Waste Management

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we have identified several new and advanced non-burn technologies developed for the treatment and disposal of potentially infectious waste. These devices need to be subjected to efficacy testing to ensure that their performance is in compliance with minimum standards required by federal and state regulatory agencies. Technologies that employ alkaline hydrolysis digestion for the processing of tissue and animal carcasses must be, as with other treatment systems, critically evaluated to substantiate their proper performance under all operating conditions. Previous articles noted that a type of alkaline hydrolysis digestion technology was first patented in the 1800s. These earlier articles also described advancements made to the technology as it entered today’s marketplace and briefly touched on some of the general requirements that should be considered in the selection of digester technology.

In this article we will review earlier testing and the methods of challenging the operations of these systems. We will discuss how new guidelines and methodologies have been developed for evaluating alkaline hydrolysis devices to meet today’s criteria in order, in part, to gain state regulatory approval for their operation at your facilities.

Regulatory Guidelines
The Technical Assistance Manual: State Regulatory Oversight of Medical Waste Treatment Technologies, “A Report of the State and Territorial Association on Alternative Treatment Technologies” (STAATT),¹ as well as its subsequent updates have become internationally accepted guidelines for the evaluation and testing of infectious waste treatment technologies. STAATT participants are recognized experts from approximately 40 state agencies, several federal organizations, e.g., United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), along with governmental regulatory bodies of various countries. STAATT guidelines have become widely recognized as an industry source of scientific information and experience and are used as important tools by regulators throughout the U.S. and around the world.