| 14 - Medical Waste Management |
Medical Waste Disposal
There were 4 activities identified by FASTT that could make use of new medical waste disposal technology. An example follows:
The Naval Hospital generates approximately 1200 boxes of biohazardous wastes each year, and is expected to double this quantity in the future. If 30% of this waste is treated for non-hazardous disposal, the annual biohazardous waste disposal cost is anticipated to be approximately $17,280. FASTT recommends on-site treatment of the waste to reduce off-site disposal costs. Steris Corporation offers the Ecocycle 10 Biohazardous Waste Destruction and Decontamination System to dispose of medical wastes. This unit grinds and disinfects the waste, rendering it sterile and unrecognizable, and acceptable for disposal as solid waste. This system could reduce the amount of hazardous waste by 30%, and result in an estimated annual savings of $17,080. Installation of the Steris system is estimated to pay-back in 1.35 years.
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