Medical Waste Treatment in the News #005

The increasing severity of the global medical waste treatment problem is making the news all around the world. Here, we take a look at some of the news making the headlines globally including how the British Ironwork Centre in Shropshire, England has found a novel way of highlighting the problem in the UK.

“Ironwork sculpture unveiled in war against medical waste”

As reported by the Shropshire Star,  the British Ironwork Centre has found a unique way to highlight the growing medical waste problem in the UK.

The Centre unveiled a giant statue of Durotan, a character from World of Warcraft video game and film, drawing attention to their key message, which read:  “Say no to incineration, 1 Billion in wasted medical waste this year alone”.

The article quotes Clive Knowles, the chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, saying;

“The NHS alone produces approximately 156,000 tons of clinical waste each year. Of this, 88,000 tons is single-use plastics. The NHS have acknowledged that they are “one of the largest producers of waste in the country”.

“The NHS state that the total weight of clinical waste “is expected to increase to an estimated 200,000 tonnes by 2030”, which is equivalent to 7,692 bin lorries full of medical waste.

“These extraordinary numbers could exponentially rise even further if we don’t make a stand now.”

Knowles innovative idea for reducing the treatment burden, when it comes to medical waste, is to repurpose items that still retain some potency or use, that could be donated to those in need.

The article quotes Knowles saying: “We have written to the Home Office to request permission to collect and send off medical waste to countries that really need it. If there’s an international need, we must regain our common sense and help however we can.

“How many lives could be saved, and how many lives could be eased, by us using products we currently just shamefully burn?”

The Burning Issue

Knowles also highlighted some of the many detrimental effects of using incineration as a method of treating medical waste:

“Huge amounts of clinical waste are sent for high temperature incineration. Not only is this process damaging for our planet and the wildlife that call it home, but it is extremely expensive and shamefully unimaginative.”

The ENVOMED 80 completely negates the need for incineration when it comes to sharps and infectious medical waste. Using our very own chemical disinfectant, waste is treated to STAATT Level IV – meaning liquid waste is then safe to be drained away with no risk of harm to the environment or the public. In addition, the solid waste is shredded to a fine ‘confetti’ before being disinfected by the biocetic – making it safe to be disposed of and reducing its volume by up to 80%.

“Syringe-strewn beaches are making headlines” in the USA

An article in The Atlantic has put today’s medical waste treatment crisis into stark focus, comparing it to the famous ‘syringe tides’ which washed ashore in New Jersey in the 1980’s.

Back in 1987, New Jersey locals and tourists alike were shocked when hundreds of unmarked hypodermic needles emerged from the water, accompanied by vials and prescription bottles, along a 50-mile stretch of New Jersey beaches during peak tourist season.

When the same horrific scenes repeated a year later, an initial ‘solution’ to the problem came in the form of the Ocean Dumping Ban Act and the Medical Waste Tracking Act, which would be passed and signed by President Ronald Reagan in the months to come.

However, by marking out medical waste as a special, separate kind of waste that had to be treated differently – a greater financial burden was placed on hospitals. The growing dependence on single-shot disposable syringes exacerbated this burden in the years that followed.

Now, in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, the Atlantic suggests that the world’s medical waste treatment problem forming its own tidal wave:

“The steel-and-plastic flotsam raised a more specific warning, too, about the increasing and deliberate wastefulness of the American health-care system. That concern went unheeded at the time. Nearly four decades later, its implications are harder to ignore. The long-term ecological costs of single-use medical devices can now be seen on a planetary scale”.

….. It will take even more work today to ensure that syringe tides do not remain our new normal.”

The Envomed 80 provides the perfect answer to single-use syringes and other sharps or infectious medical waste that is piling high across the globe.

It allows hospitals to treat said waste on-site, reducing volumes by up to 80% in the process. It removes the need for waste to be transported, stored or potentially discarded. It reduces the cost burden on hospitals who have to employ external medical waste treatment services and removes any risk to the environment and public health.

“Concerns rise over improper disposal of medical waste”

The Cyprus mail reports that concerns are growing on the island for the environment and public health due to the “apparent refusal of some health professionals to comply with existing regulations” on medical waste disposal.

The article states that “Despite current legislation stipulating that medical providers must cooperate with licensed companies to collect, transport and manage the waste they generate, many private doctors are failing to do so, according to the hazardous waste management association (Sedea).”

Once again, this problem appears to be due to the cost of employing external services to remove and treat a hospital’s medical waste off-site. A practice which also invites the potential for contamination and therefore environmental and public health risks.

The article quotes Sedea spokesman Giorgos Vouvakos as saying:

“The biggest problem is private doctors who are refusing to pay the €300 annual fee [per head] for a once-weekly waste collection.”

The Envomed 80 would solve this issue completely, as it allows for sharps and infectious medical waste to be treated by hospitals on-site. The only additional costs to the hospital would be utilities – which are low as the Envomed 80 is an incredibly economical machine, and the negligible cost of refilling our chemical disinfectant – Biocetic.

There would be no need for hospitals to pay costly fees to external providers, no risk to public health or the environment and all treated waste could be disposed of via municipal channels safe in the knowledge it had been treated to STAATT Level IV.

If you would like to find out more, head over to www.envomed.com and be part of the solution today!