Medical waste poses a significant risk to the environment for two main reasons: first, the volume in which it is produced; and secondly, due to the environmental impacts associated with waste incineration - currently the most prevalent method for dealing with this type of ‘hazardous’ waste. For these reasons, medical equipment is being subjected to increasing scrutiny from both healthcare trusts - who must finance the increasing costs of waste management and environmental legislators.

However, there is often scope for reducing recycling costs if the product is designed with the recycling process in mind. Academic and industrial research has been undertaken to develop product design approaches to ensure that recycling is completed with minimal time and effort and that maximum value can be obtained for the materials and components extracted from the product.

We encourage manufacturers to consider design for recycling during the development of their products and adoption of new standards for minimum energy efficiency and other environmental considerations. 

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Waste Treatment