Non-Incineration Medical Waste Treatment Technologies in Europe A Recource for Hospital Administrators, Facility Managers, Health Care Professionals, Environmental Advocates, and Community Members June 2004 Health Care Without Harm Europe Chlumova 17 130 00 Prague, Czech Republic tel./fax: +420 222 782 808, 222 781 471
[email protected], www.noharm.org Non-Incineration Medical Waste Treatment Technologies in Europe June 2004 This resource book is based on the report ”Non-Incineration Medical Waste Treatment Technologies: A Resource for Hospital Administrators, Facility Managers, Health Care Professionals, Environmental Advocates, and Community Members” issued by Health Care Without Harm in August 2001. While the general chapters on waste minimisation and waste categories are shortened, more space is given to the description of technologies that operate in Europe. The final document was written by Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, HCWH, USA; Dr. Čestmír Hrdinka, HCWH, Czech Republic and Paweł Głuszyński, Waste Prevention Association, Poland with contributions from Ralph Ryder, Communities Against Toxics, UK; Michael McKeon, Irish Doctors for the Environment, Ireland; Rui Berkemaier, Quercus, Portugal and Aurélie Gauthier, CNIID, France. Health Care Without Harm Europe Chlumova 17 130 00 Prague 3, Czech Republic Tel.: +420 222 782 808 Fax: +420 222 781 471
[email protected] www.noharm.org Preface Until recently, incineration was the almost examples), the overwhelming majority of exclusive method of treating hazardous medical medical waste incinerators exceed the dioxin waste. In 1994, the U.S. Environmental Protection emission limit of 0.1 ng/m3 TEQ. Agency’s (EPA) Reassessment of 2,3,7,8- Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) and There are two ways these new member countries Related Compounds identified medical waste can meet the statutory limits in the future – they incineration as the single largest source of dioxin can either equip incineration plants with very air pollution in the United States of America.