Reducing Your Facility's Carbon Footprint

Traditional methods of disposing of medical waste pose significant harm to the environment. Small waste generators in particular have several options open to them that are more environmentally friendly. While many smaller medical businesses like clinics and dental practices often hire a hauling company to remove their hazardous waste, this clearly isn’t the best for the environment.

If a facility processes its own medical waste at the site where it’s generated, it will leave a much smaller carbon footprint. There is low cost technology available today with which to do this. This technology, such as small autoclaves, provides a sustainable solution that cuts down on emissions. Sterilization is easy to achieve on the premises, and the treated remains can then be discarded with the regular trash. Desktop sized processing units are available that can convert items like syringes into sterile trash.

Solutions like this provide greener, less expensive and safer ways to handle medical waste than typical haul-away options. The US Energy Information Administration says that almost 80% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels. The more we can cut down on disposal trucks being on the road, the better. New technologies make this possible without any added inconvenience or costs.