Hospitals, clinics, and other medical healthcare facilities use a
medical waste incinerator to burn trash and medical waste. Any type of
healthcare facility needs a medical waste incinerator because of all
the waste they produce, such as needles, body parts and fluids,
diapers, bandages, and lab cultures. The Medical Waste Tracking Act of
1988 defines medical waste as “any solid waste that is generated in the
diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, in
research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of
biologicals.” Items like this can still be infectious and potentially
hazardous, so it must be removed safely. Even when burned, the waste
can still emit air pollutants, which could be hazardous. This is where
the medical waster incinerator comes into play.
A
medical waste incinerator burns the medical waste. However, it during
the burning process, it creates combustion gases and ash. The gases
must be vented into the air while the ashes are removed from the
medical waste incinerator and placed in a landfill. There are
different types of medical waste incinerators that can be used. The
multiple chamber pathological waste incinerators are mostly used to
dispose of pathological wastes. The controlled air incinerator has two
separate chambers.
A medical waste incinerator is just one way
healthcare facility can rid themselves of this medical waste. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has strict emission regulations
however, regarding medical waste incinerators. They have more
stringent requirements for the newer incinerators than for the older
ones. The EPA classifies a new medical waste incinerator as one that
was constructed after February 27, 1995. Anything made before February
27, 1995 is seen as an old medical waste incinerator. The EPA also
then subcategories medical waste incinerators based on their size or
how many pounds they can burn per hour. Small incinerators burn 200
pounds of waste per hour, medium incinerators burn between 200 and 500
pounds of waste per hour, and large incinerators burn more than 500
pounds of waste per hour.