Medical solutions provider Alloro Africa Enviro Services has introduced Italian medical technology company Newster Group’s NW system for the sterilisation of potentially infectious healthcare waste to the local market.

Alloro Africa – the sole importer and distributor of the technology in the South African Development Community – had completed a 14-month testing period, including applications and approvals, of the NW system at a hospital in the Western Cape.

Pitted against incineration, which was the traditional method of disposing of medical waste, the NW system processed waste based on sterilisation in unpressurised moist heat, produced by impact and friction of the waste.

The homogeneous dehydrated granulated residue of the process came out as sterilised, finely treated and dried. The final volume of the treated waste was about 75% less than the initial waste.

Asked whether the plastic medical waste could be reused in a recycling process, Alloro Africa director Carlo Bovetti told Engineering News Online that the residue was too fine but that it still held a much smaller carbon footprint than incineration, and was, therefore, the lesser of two evils.

“The plastic burning in the incinerator [causes pollution],” he said. Bovetti also pointed out that the NW system held several logistical benefits, as the treated waste could be stored for long periods, and transported when a sufficient quantity was obtained to justify the transportation cost.

This factor also greatly reduced the possibility of illegal dumping and infectious medical waste ending up on landfills.

He noted, however, that the company was looking into methods of using the residue to produce energy, but added that there was much to be done in terms of technology development before this could occur.

Alloro Africa’s Dr Kabs Makaba said this was dependent on the approval by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) of the technology. “Without [Nersa] finalising [approval of] the technology that is related to efficient burning, we can’t really answer that question,” he noted.

Bovetti added that the waste-to-energy process would also need critical mass and that hospitals would need to group together to supply the tonnage of waste needed to start such a process.

The NW system was available in three sizes and weighed between 700 kg and 2.2 t. It consumed about 50 l/day of water, with the option of being fitted with a water-recycling component. It had the capacity of treating between 15 kg and 75kg an hour of waste – depending on the model – and took about 30 minutes to 40 minutes to complete the waste treatment process.

It was capable of processing staples, glass, teeth, organ tissue, transfusion bags, sanitary towels, dressings and bandages, surgical residues, tubing, catheters and drainage systems, filters and syringes, besides others.

However, the system was not designed to process liquids, radioactive materials, compact metals heavier than 100 g, chemicals, stone, timber or sheets, as these materials could potentially damage the blades.