The EPA's MWI standards and guidelines have caused many health care facilities to use alternative technologies for treating waste including microwave technologies, steam sterilization like autoclaving, electropyrolysis and chemical mechanical systems. Many states have regulations requiring medical waste treatment technologies to be certified, licensed or regulated and individual states have their own requirements. Several Federal agencies also have regulations that cover the waste stream.


The Maine Hospital Association, which represents 29 community-governed Maine area hospitals generate about 190,000 pounds of waste per month. The Maine Medical Waste Facility utilizes 2H-1000 Hydroclase Vessels, which process 500 to 800 pounds of waste per day. The technology from Hydroclave Systems Corp (SC) of Canada has a patented treatment process that utilizes steam heat to sterilize waste and subsequently shred it making it acceptable material for landfill disposal. This is a positive move for the environment. Previously, medical waste was hauled to landfills in unmodified form.

Kate Flynn, FACHE, president of The Health Care Improvement Foundation (HCIF) - a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to building partnerships for better health care in Southeastern PA, says, "Hospitals' commitment to the 'green revolution' is a critical objective for the Delaware Valley." She says that the 20 hospitals in her region have been working together since mid-2007 to reduce the impact on the environment by reducing regulated medical and general waste, managing pharmaceutical and toxic waste and developing environmentally preferred purchasing. "A prominent achievement has been reducing the volume of infectious waste among the region's hospitals by more than 40% in the aggregate," says Flynn. "Best practices are being compiled and, along with case studies, will be posted on HCIF's web site as resource for other hospitals and health care providers."

Disposables in the home health care environment
Disposable needles, syringes and lancets represent the lion's share of home health care SUDs. It is estimated that over three billion disposable needles and syringes and an additional 900 million lancets (collectively called "medical sharps") are used outside of health care facilities in the U.S., and two-thirds of these are used by those managing their own (or their pet's) health care at home. Self injectors are known to discard medical sharps in trash containers in homes and public places and in other public settings such as hotel rooms, airports and toilets. These disposal methods create potential dangers for the transmission of infectious diseases.

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