I work in a veterinary clinic. I know that we put sharps into sharps bins, which go into a big medical waste box when they are full, and that a medical waste company picks them up.
What happens after that?
In: Other
There are two processes:
Heat treatment : the boxes go into an autoclave (high pressure steam oven) and steamed for long enough to sterilise the materials. They are then shredded so that they are not recognisable. The they are disposed of as regular trash to landfill or other process.
Incineration: the boxes are incinerated at high temperature so that very little is left. The ashes then go to landfill.
Heat treatment is preferred as it is more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Incinerator ash is difficult to dispose of as many landfills do not accept it due to it possibly containing concentrated toxic materials.
One of the limitations of heat treatment is that medications may not be deactivated. Medical waste containing medications (such as vials or ayringes) should not go in regular sharps containers for heat treatment, but need to be segregated and go for medication disposal by incineration only.
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