Excerpts from Healthcare Purchasing News 11-2015
DIY - managing RMW onsite
More hospitals are also moving away from incineration and haul and dump services in lieu of healthier, more sustainable options. One way is to process and dispose of medical waste onsite using newer, cleaner technologies that do the job efficiently, economically, and with less harm to the environment.
"Haul and dump disposal models have become increasingly expensive and have become laden with extraneous fees and add-on charges making them more expensive; this is problematic in the environment of cost containment in healthcare," said Michael P. Smith, Regional Sales Director, Red Bag Solutions.
Red Bag Solution's Steam Sterilization System
"The EPA is closing down aging incinerators and not recertifying many other incinerators to burn waste. This will drive up the cost for vendors who haul the waste to the remaining incinerating sites as they travel greater distances to handle the waste," Smith continued. "President Obama has issued an Executive Order (EO#13514) to aid the environment which requires governmental agencies and hospitals to reduce and divert the volume of waste being sent to the landfill by 50 percent."
Red Bag Solutions offers a closed system that simultaneously macerates and sterilizes regulated medical waste onsite using steam and hot water, transforming it into an airy, confetti-like material that reduces volume and weight up to 90 percent and 30 percent respectively. The remaining waste, now sterile, can be disposed of as municipal waste rather than contaminated waste - good for the wallet and the environment.
"At the end of the processing cycle the end product has been and is guaranteed sterile," Smith asserted. "The Red Bag machine kills pathogens and viruses including (but not limited to) HIV, Ebola, H1-N1, TB and polio while allowing the facility to improve their pandemic preparedness protocol."
www.redbagsolutions.com
