Abstract
BackgroundImproper treatment of infectious waste can cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects such as transmission of diseases through health personnel and other susceptible groups,who come in contact with such wastes. On the other hand, selection of appropriate treatment alternatives in infectious waste management has become a challenging task for public health authorities especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to select the best infectious waste treatment alternative by the modified Sustainability Assessment of Technologies (SAT) methodology, developed by the International Environmental Technology Center of the United Nations Environment Program (IETC-UNEP).MethodsSAT methodology consists of three main components, including screening, scoping and detailed assessment. In screening, different infectious waste treatment alternatives undergo screening using the finalized environmental and technical criteria. Short-listed treatment options from the previous step, then go through the comprehensive scoping and detailed assessment (2nd and 3rd components) which is more qualitative and quantitative in nature. An empirical case in Tehran, the largest city in Iran, is provided to illustrate the potential of the proposed methodology.ResultsAccording to the final score, “Hydroclave”, was the most suitable infectious treatment technology. The ranking order of the treatment alternatives were “Autoclave with a shredder”, “Autoclave”, “Central Incineration” and “chemical treatment” on the basis of technical, economical, social and environmental aspects and their related criteria.ConclusionsAccording to the results it could be concluded that the top ranking technologies basically have higher scores in all the aspects. Hence it is easier to arrive at a decision for the final technology selection based on the principles of sustainability.
Highlights
Improper treatment of infectious waste can cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects such as transmission of diseases through health personnel and other susceptible groups,who come in contact with such wastes
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the term health-care wastes (HCWs) includes all the waste generated within health-care institutions, research centers and laboratories related to medical practices
HCWs and infectious waste may play an important role in the transmission and spread of many diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B or C virus, and other agents associated with blood borne diseases [8,9,10]
Summary
Improper treatment of infectious waste can cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects such as transmission of diseases through health personnel and other susceptible groups,who come in contact with such wastes. Selection of appropriate treatment alternatives in infectious waste management has become a challenging task for public health authorities especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to select the best infectious waste treatment alternative by the modified Sustainability Assessment of Technologies (SAT) methodology, developed by the International Environmental Technology Center of the United Nations Environment Program (IETC-UNEP). Today health-care wastes (HCWs) have become a substantial public health and environmental concern all over the world, in developing countries [1, 2]. A multi-language systematic review of HCWS management in 40 low and middle-income countries worldwide declared that crucial problems in urban regions in Asia, Africa and the Middle East intensified by increasing quantities of HCWs and inappropriate treatment and disposal activities [11]
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