Centralized incineration treatment of infectious waste for regional hospitals in Taiwan

Taiwan has a high population density. Recently, rapid advances of medical activities have caused an environmental problem in managing the wastes generated by hospitals or clinics. Government regulations, public concern and an increased commitment to a clean environment have also brought more attention to the handling problems of medical waste. A project to plan and manage the first centralized incineration plant for infectious hospital waste has been carried out in Taiwan. This paper summarizes the results of the execution of this project. It addresses the experience gained in siting a regional incinerator, its technical operation to meet local environmental regulations and the management of the regional plant. Public concern against incineration was considered to be the most important criterion to address during establishment of the incinerator, as well as good operational performance. The operational problems encountered most frequently in the regional plant with possible causes and solutions to the problems are summarized in this paper. It was also found that a delivery manifest was useful to manage the delivery of infectious waste.