Medical waste disposal equipment for hospitals, clinics – How to decide what your facility needs
26-07-2022
Medical waste disposal equipment on-site or off-site is indispensable to treat potentially infectious waste generated by the healthcare industry. But how do you decide which solution fits your facility the most?
In Celitron’s next article, we shall take a look at our most popular medical waste disposal equipment, including autoclaves for hospitals and clinics, as well as our Integrated Sterilizer and Shredder for the treatment of infectious healthcare waste!
The basics of choosing the right medical waste disposal equipment for your facility
While regulations about which medical waste disposal equipment is considered acceptable may be different from country to country (and state to state),the number one priority is usually the same - ensuring the safety of patients and medical staff, as well as our environment as a whole.
- Even the disposal of medical waste at land sites can be acceptable if your equipment cannot currently treat all the accumulated waste generated at your facility. For example, the accumulation of untreated waste at hospitals and clinics presents a far greater risk than open dumps. Still, compared to open dumps, sanitary landfills are a much more preferable option, as the risk of contaminating the soil, water sources, and air pollution is greatly reduced.
- Chemical disinfection is often used to treat medical waste on-site, and while it can certainly be effective, it simply cannot provide the same reliability (or even the long-term cost-effective operation) of more modern disposal equipment.
- Microwaves can also be a good choice for medical waste disposal equipment. After being shredded, the waste is irradiated at a frequency of about 2450 MHz. However, they cannot treat surgical tools made of metal and are costlier to use compared to autoclaves. Potential operational maintenance issues have also made them less widespread in healthcare facilities.
- While they require a greater investment, and air pollution risks are still up for debate, on-site and off-site incinerators are still among the most popular medical waste disposal equipment available on the market. Especially since pharmaceutical, anatomical, and chemical waste cannot effectively be treated by autoclaving.
Why I should use autoclaves as my medical waste disposal equipment?
Autoclaves have become one of the most popular on-site medical waste disposal equipment used by healthcare facilities. Celitron’s models are present in more than 40 countries all over the globe.
Among other benefits, their popularity can be explained by 5 main factors:
1. Reliability
Thanks to a process called steam sterilization, autoclaves can raise the boiling point of water and steam well over 100 degrees, and kill even heat-resistant bacteria. This isn’t always guaranteed by incinerators.
2. Ease of use
No need for highly trained staff. The steam sterilization process only lasts about 20 minutes (depending on the size of the load you treat) and is fully automated. Everything can be launched with the push of a button.
3. Cost-effective and environmentally friendly operation
Compared to other medical waste disposal equipment, autoclaves can be much more cost-effective to operate in the long term. Since they don’t require as much energy to operate, they also present a much smaller burden on the environment as well. Not to mention they emit neither harmful emissions nor bad odours.
4. Dual purpose
An autoclave isn’t just a reliable piece of medical waste disposal equipment. It can also treat a variety of tools used by hospitals and clinics every day, which can then be used again by medical staff without any risk of infection.
5. On-site treatment
By treating medical waste on-site, this disposal equipment allows you to greatly reduce the risks associated with storing and transporting untreated waste.
1.) What kind of medical waste disposal equipment is most suited for hospitals and other large facilities?
Celitron’s Azteca A large autoclaves are perfectly suited to handle the medical waste disposal needs of larger facilities that need to treat a large amount of waste and tools each day. If you have the available space for this cutting-edge piece of equipment, you won’t be disappointed.
Chamber capacity: between 110 and 880 liters.
2.) What kind of medical waste disposal equipment is most suited for clinics and more moderately sized facilities?
Celitron’s Azteca AC medium autoclaves are the perfect in-between choice for less gargantuan facilities, but who still need their medical waste disposal equipment to be able to handle a respectable amount of waste. These models are ideal for dental and veterinary clinics, operating theaters, or as a backup autoclave at hospitals.
Chamber capacity: between 75 and 200 liters.
3.) What kind of medical waste disposal equipment is most suited for smaller facilities?
Celitron’s Sting 11B Premium small steam autoclaves are the go-to choice for facilities that don’t generate as much waste and have less available space for the installation of cutting-edge medical waste disposal equipment. A compact design without sacrificing performance in the least.
Chamber capacity: 25 liters.
When I should use the ISS as my medical waste disposal equipment?
The ISS is short for Integrated Sterilizer and Shredder - it combines the reliability of steam sterilization with the raw strength of a medical waste shredder within a single vessel. Shredding the waste greatly helps the steam produced by autoclaves to penetrate every part of the load inside, making it an excellent choice to handle more hazardous and infectious waste, such as items contaminated by bodily fluids as well as sharps.
Chamber capacity: between 25 and 560 liters.
Medical sharps waste represents a huge amount of the waste generated by the healthcare industry due to many treatments requiring injections. They can spread infections extremely easily with a single cur or prick, making their correct treatment an even greater priority.
For more information on all the different types of medical waste disposal equipment you can choose, you can download the technical specifications from Celitron’s WEBSITE, but you can also CONTACT CELITRON – we will gladly answer any questions you may have about our products. You can count on our team to help you find the medical waste disposal equipment most suited for your facility!