Bio-medical waste means any solid of liquid waste, including its container, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological matter. Waste generated by healthcare activities includes a broad range of materials, from used needles and syringes to soiled dressings, body parts, diagnostic samples, blood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, paper towels, wipes , gloves and radioactive materials. Bio-medical waste poses hazard through two principal reasons – infectivity and toxicity.
The global annual bio-medical waste generation is about 10 million tons, or less than 1% of the MSW quantity. Of the total amount of waste generated by health-care activities, about 85% is general, non-hazardous waste and the remaining 15% is considered hazardous material that may be infectious, toxic or radioactive.
For the protection of both humans and the environment, it is paramount that the whole bio-medical waste treatment process is designed and handled with great care. Poor management of bio-medical waste potentially exposes healthcare workers, waste handlers, patients and the community at large to infection, toxic effects and injuries, and risks polluting the environment. It is essential that all medical waste materials are segregated at the point of generation, appropriately treated and disposed of safely.
High-temperature incineration is the safest and most effective way of bio-medical waste disposal, apart from the radioactive waste that requires specialized treatment and disposal. Incineration requires temperatures in excess of 1000oC, like the ones in the wasteWOIMA® waste-to-energy power plant, to render all the different types of bio-medical waste safe and inert. The incineration facility must be equipped with a flue gas treatment system in accordance with the best available technologies (BAT) to ensure that the potentially hazardous emissions are captured and treated to meet the most stringent emission standards. The use of a waste-to-energy incineration facility allows for the capture of energy contained in the bio-medical waste and thus practically pays for itself through the value of the generated energy commodities. Also, the metals in the waste stream are sterilized in the incinerations process, easy to segregate out of the bottom ash and recycle. Typically, bio-medical waste only accounts for a small percentage of the waste feed to the W2E facilities, which are designed to burn mainly municipal and industrial wastes.
WOIMA has the perfect solution for the incineration of bio-medical waste mixing it safely with municipal and industrial waste streams. We have developed the modular wasteWOIMA® waste-to-energy power plant that is prefabricated into standard modules and thus easy and fast to deliver anywhere in the world. It helps recycle the waste into raw materials and energy in the most efficient manner reducing the waste quantity by over 95%.
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WOIMA Corporation is a Finnish supplier of best-in-class waste-to-value products, projects and services worldwide. We have developed solutions that enable us, and the customer, to transform and recycle virtually any waste stream into raw materials and energy. At WOIMA we combine Finnish engineering know-how in waste management with power generation design expertise. These solutions are used in Finland every day. They support the circular economy ideology and ensure that less than 1% of Finland’s waste ends up in landfills.
Our mission is to improve quality of life both locally and globally, as well as empower people to utilize waste as a commodity. Our decades of international project management experience ensure an on-time, in-budget and high-quality WOIMA solution delivery across the globe.
