ABSTRACT
Incineration is firmly entrenched as the preferred method of treatment for many types of infectious wastes. In many ways, incineration appears to be the ideal solution to waste management. Incineration also does the best job of all treatment methods of destroying the evidence of infectious waste generation. Incinerators for infectious waste are supplied under various names: medical, infectious, or pathological waste incinerators. Infectious waste incinerators are regulated under various local, state, and federal laws. Air quality rules are enforced by the states in most cases, and the states have taken the lead in regulating infectious waste incinerators. Incineration is also used as an excuse, some say, to avoid the most preferable method of waste management: waste minimization at the point of generation. In many cases, new federal, state, and local rules for infectious waste management and incineration will require a re-evaluation of used incinerator or will result in a proposal to construct a new one.
