Bottom and fly ash treatment of medical waste incinerator from community health centres with solidification/stabilization

Abstract

The amount of medical waste generation in Indonesia is increasing along with its poor processing method. One of the producers of medical waste is community health centres. The usual treatment of medical solid waste is by incineration and some have applied processing with solidification/stabilization (S/S). The objective of this study was to determine the quality of compression test and total concentration of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Pb) using toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). The variations of bottom and fly ash: cement Portland composition were 25:75, 50:50, and 75:25. Maximum compression test results were at 25:75 with a result of 682 (7 days) and 772 tons/m2 (28 days). According to the characters of TCLP test on bottom and fly ash, the results showed that Zn had the highest concentration followed by Cu, Cd, Cr, and Pb. These results showed bottom and fly ash were classified as hazardous waste because of the metals exceeded their thresholds. After solidification/stabilization (S/S) process, the lowest concentrations Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Pb of leachate was 0.521; 0.002; 0.118; 3.071; and 0.007 mg/L foe 28 days. Solidification (S/S) of bottom and fly ash could reduce the amount of hazardous waste from medical waste incinerator facility.