Shiga University of Medical Science and a company in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, have jointly developed commercially feasible equipment to decompose medical waste into water and carbon dioxide.
According to the university, this is the world's first system to process medical waste without incineration.
The equipment, measuring 2 meters by 4 meters with a height of 2 meters, utilizes titanium dioxide's ability to decompose organic compounds.
It mixes medical waste crushed into small pieces with titanium dioxide heated to 450 to 500 degrees Celsius and gasifies the waste. Toxic gasses will be neutralized.
The new machine is capable of processing 7 tons of medical waste per month. Besides reducing risks of infection from medical waste during transportation, it can cut CO2 emissions by at least 30 pct, compared with conventional incineration equipment.
The Japanese team started the new equipment's development in 2004 and completed it in April this year. Tests using waste including polyvinyl chloride and latex products as well as diapers have proved the equipment is commercially usable, according the team.
The equipment is capable of processing any potentially infectious medical waste safely and completely, Prof. Toru Tani at the medical university said.
According to Tani, the machine can separate inorganic substances from waste, so it can be applied to other uses such as collection of rare metals from discarded electronic products.