Learning Objective:
; Presentation of alternative methods for biohazardous waste inactivation and discussing the feasibility of employing these methods.
; Abstract:
; Activities conducted in laboratories, pharmaceutical companies or hospital generate various types of waste, including biohazardous waste.Currently, much of biohazardous waste is directly packaged and transported for incineration as hazardous waste, in compliance with the current ADRregulation (European Agreement concerning the international carriage of Dangerous goods by road). This flow of biohazardous waste results in substantialtransport, energy and logistical costs. Moreover, biohazardous waste necessitates incineration at very high temperatures that can only be achieved by rotarykiln incinerators. As a biosafety focal point, one of the tasks of the Service Biosafety and Biotechnology (SBB) at Sciensano (Belgium) is to assess whethermethods used to inactivate biohazardous waste are efficient enough to protect human health and the environment against the risks associated with thewaste. In this context, the SBB has been approached by the Belgian competent authority to evaluate the feasibility of recently developed inactivationmethods as an alternative to immediate incineration. This is the case for example for processing methods using saturated steam (autoclaving). This approachinvolves fewer requirements for subsequent processing (incineration at lower temperatures, fewer transport requirements) and reduces the biological risksat the source. Microwave irradiation or a process combining shredding and sterilization are also among the new methods available for on-site biohazardouswaste inactivation. This presentation outlines these techniques and discusses the feasibility of employing these alternative inactivation methods.
; Impact Statement:
; In laboratories and hospitals, biohazardous waste could be inactivated by alternative methods allowing on-site inactivation. This presentation outlines newtechniques for waste inactivation (microwave irradiation or a process combining shredding and sterilization) and discusses the feasibility of employing theseinactivation methods.