ABSTRACT
A consideration is the solid residue from incineration—bottom ash and flyash. Various options are available for the treatment of infectious wastes. The prerequisite for the onsite treatment option is the availability of suitable treatment equipment. Many infectious waste generators prefer the onsite treatment option because it gives them complete control over the waste. Onsite treatment may reduce the regulatory burden; for example, infectious waste that is treated and destroyed onsite is exempt from the tracking requirements of the medical waste tracking regulations. Some regional facilities and cooperative ventures have been formed to provide shared use of a treatment facility. Various technologies are effective for treating infectious wastes. These include steam sterilization, incineration, thermal inactivation, chemical treatment, irradiation, and wastewater treatment. With chemical treatment, the chemicals added to the waste change the composition of the wastewater. With the hammer mill/chemical treatment system, the principal regulatory concern is the quality of the discharged wastewater.
