Commercial medical waste treatment technologies include incineration, melting, autoclaving, and chemical disinfection. Incineration disinfects, destroys the original nature of medical waste, and reduces the waste volume by converting organic waste content to carbon dioxide and water, leaving only residual inorganic ash. However, medical waste incinerator numbers have plummeted from almost 2,400 in 1995 to 115 in 2003 and to about 62 in 2005, due to negative public perception and escalating compliance costs associated with increasingly strict regulations. High-temperature electric melters have been designed and marketed as incinerator alternatives, but they are also costly and generally must comply with the same incinerator emissions regulations and permitting requirements. Autoclave processes disinfect medical waste at much lower operating temperatures than incinerators operate at, but are sometimes subject to limitations such as waste segregration requirements to be effective. Med-Shred, Inc. has developed a patented mobile shredding and chemical disinfecting process for on-site medical waste treatment. Medical waste is treated on-site at customer facilities by shredding and disinfecting the waste. The treated waste can then be transported in compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requirements to a landfill for disposal as solid municipal waste. A team of Idaho National Laboratory engineers evaluated the treatment process design. The process effectiveness has been demonstrated in mycobacterium tests performed by Analytical Services Incorporated. A process description and the technical and performance evaluation results are presented in the paper. A treatment demonstration and microbiological disinfecting tests show that the processor functions as it was intended
