Knowledge Hub
Insights and information on emerging issues in public health and how our solutions can help health authorities and facility administrators
Bring Medical Waste Management to a New Level of Environmental Sustainability
Treated, sterilized, and decontaminated health care waste can be safely disposed in sanitary landfills together with municipal and household waste. But why add them up to already congested and at times improperly managed disposal sites when most recent studies show they can also be recycled?
Rather than dumping treated and decontaminated medical waste in landfills, more and more generators of health care waste in other countries are partnering with technology-enabled companies, non-profits, or social enterprises to recover useful resources from treated health care waste to bring their waste management approach to a whole new level of enhancing environmental sustainability.
The real deal with medical waste
Of the total health care waste generated by any typical medical facility, only about 15-25% are actually hazardous, with the rest considered just like any household or municipal waste and can therefore be subjected to already established and emergent recycling technologies. But because of deficiencies in managing health care waste – both at the source and across the storage-transport-disposal waste journey – the hazardous, infectious, and toxic stream can get easily lumped with all the other non-hazardous stream. This leaves most, if not all of the tons of medical waste generated by health care facilities, including decontaminated ones, out of the major sources of recyclable materials by recycling and upcycling entities.
Awareness of medical waste treatment still low
While already a globally accepted and in fact endorsed critical step in hospital and medical facility management, knowledge and awareness of infectious and hazardous medical waste treatment is only beginning to spread. For most hospital facilities in the Philippines, disposal through a contracted third-party hauler or through the facility’s own medical waste transport vehicles to sanitary landfills remains the most prevalent waste management strategy. This is understandable given the relatively expensive capital outlay needed as well as operational manpower to deal with health care waste onsite.
And while most public as well as private health care facilities routinely practice mandatory waste segregation and storage processes, these efforts are unfortunately put to waste (pun intended) by unscrupulous and loosely regulated third-party waste haulers engaged in indiscriminate and illegal practices.
Mainstreaming knowledge among hospital administrators of the various options for treating medical waste, including the sterilizing-shredding process through autoclaves is a key step towards closing loopholes in the country’s hazardous waste regulatory environment.
Enabling and capturing a niche in the emerging waste upcycling industry
Because of misconceptions and limited awareness of the medical waste landscape, including the above-mentioned problems, most recycling and upcycling companies in the Philippines have yet to explore opportunities for tapping hospitals and medical facilities as potential suppliers of recoverable or recyclable materials. Usually medical waste are assumed to be infectious and cannot be send along with the common municipal waste. In this scenario, the waste must be decontaminated by making it into small pieces and then heating it at an elevated temperature. This in turn can be sent along with the municipal plastic waste to disposal sites or recycling facilities. By equipping healthcare facilities then with an onsite waste treatment system, technology, and technical competence, the vast and largely untapped potential of properly and fully treated hospital waste becoming the next eco-lumber or eco-board should be just around the corner.
Market reports show that the medical waste management market is anticipated to reach US$ 22 billion by the end of 2025 and in the Philippines, locally generated medical waste which has seen an exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic can fill the still large gap in the country’s recycling industry.
Partnerships will be key
Once equipped with the appropriate medical waste treatment technology, health care facilities can now explore partnerships with a growing number of eco-enterprises engaged in waste resource recovery. Health care facilities can leverage their decontaminated or even shredded waste materials, particularly the plastic components thereof which typically comprise about 20-30% of the medical waste volume. Groups such as The Plastic Flamingo, Sentinel Upcycling Technologies, and Green Antz are just a few of these organizations that have gained traction through their efforts in promoting circular economy practices.