Medical waste collection and disposal has undergone huge changes in recent years and more efforts are being put into adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices.
With sustainable waste management solutions, it is possible to mitigate medical waste and the impact it has on our environment. Medical facilities generate waste of all kinds and if it is not taken care of using the right waste management systems, it can impact not only our planet but the health of a person who comes into contact.
Materials and items like sharps, pharmaceutical waste, radioactive materials, and trace chemo are just a few hazardous wastes that hospitals produce. This waste needs to be handled with extra care and using the right tools.
There is a need to manage all this waste using sustainable methods like mechanical recycling, reusing, and using sustainable autoclaves to protect vulnerable patients and save our environment in the long run.
Following are a few key points that we will be covering in this article
- The Problem with Traditional Medical Waste Disposal Methods
- Benefits of Eco-Friendly Medical Waste Disposal Solutions
- Reduced Waste
- Protects Human Health
- Compliance with the Law
- A More Economical Approach
- Safe Environment for the Patients
- Steam Sterilization to neutralize infectious Agents
- Reduction in the Waste Volume
- Improvement in the Operational Efficiency
The Problem with Traditional Medical Waste Disposal Methods
Traditional methods for medical waste disposal such as incineration and landfilling pose serious threats to our environment. They can pollute the soil and air, and the emission of greenhouse gases can destroy our atmosphere.
Landfilling which is the go-to method for waste disposal is extremely non-sustainable. It consumes valuable land space and contaminates surrounding soil and water resources which reduces agricultural capacity and destroys marine life.
The traditional medical waste disposal methods do nothing to minimize the amount of waste generated and its consequent impact on the environment. This puts the safety of patients, medical staff, and the general public at great risk.
This is why it is necessary to move towards more sustainable practices for medical waste disposal.
Benefits of Eco-Friendly Medical Waste Disposal Solutions
Here are a few reasons why we believe eco-friendly waste collection solutions are better for medical facilities.
- Reduced Waste
Sustainable waste management solutions like autoclaving and electro-pyrolysis reduce the volume of medical waste by steam sterilization, shredding, and drying. According to an estimate, it can reduce the waste by up to 80% which can decrease pollution caused by this waste to a great extent.
Reduction in waste leads to a much cleaner environment both inside and outside the medical facilities
Moreover, sustainable practices encourage reusing, recycling, and repurposing of medical waste which can further decrease the amount of waste that goes into incineration plants and landfills.
- Protects Human Health
Sustainable medical waste collection ensures complete disinfection and removal of harmful microorganisms that can carry infectious diseases that can have potentially deadly effects on humans.
By properly sterilizing the medical waste, you can make sure it does not create health complications either for patients or their caregivers who come into contact.
Thus, with proper medical waste collection, you can ensure that human health is protected at all times both within the vicinity of the hospital as well as outside.
- Compliance with the Law
For a medical facility to keep functioning, it needs to follow every regulation and comply with every protocol instituted by the government. If you follow sustainable waste collection and disposal practices, you can meet all the regulatory requirements.
This can reflect positively on your medical facility since it shows that you take the health of your patients and the safety of the planet very seriously.
- A More Economical Approach
Reducing waste is directly linked with cost savings and sustainable waste collection provides you with this opportunity. By recycling and composting medical waste and using durable products you can cut medical waste management costs to a great extent.
- Safe Environment for the Patients
By installing separate-colored bins for sharps, radioactive, and pharmaceuticals, you can make sure your patients live in a safe and waste-free environment.
It can clear the air from dangerous microbes and eliminate ominous odors and that can create an environment that promotes good health of your patients.
- Steam Sterilization to Neutralize Infectious Agents
Steam sterilization or autoclaving is a process where medical waste is exposed to high-pressure steam. This non-toxic approach can neutralize pathogens and potentially infectious viruses and bacteria. This makes medical waste disposal much more efficient and safer both for the staff and the patients.
- Reduction in the Waste Volume
In this process, medical waste is decomposed by the application of high heat. The pyrolysis takes place during the combustion and gasification in the absence of oxygen. This reduces this volume of waste to a great extent making the disposal much easier and eco-friendly.
- Improvement in the Operational Efficiency
If there is an efficient medical waste collection and disposal plan in place in your medical facility, it can make your operations smooth and swift. It can make the training of the staff and the auditing processes seamless.
Thus, with sustainable medical waste collection solutions, you can ensure you every patient and staff member can work in a stress-free and healthy environment. This improves the operational efficiency of your medical facility manifolds.
Conclusion
Using sustainable methods and technologies for medical waste collection and disposal can significantly reduce GHG emissions and the need for landfills and other harmful waste disposal systems. This can not only make the planet much safer but it can also improve the air quality inside medical facilities.
Proper management of medical waste should be among the top priorities for people who are working in this field. This is the only way to promote a positive impact on both overall public health and our environment.
Contact us to get rid of waste from your medical facility using proper sustainable methods.