Infectious Hospital Waste Case Study
A multi-criteria assessment of available treatment technologies for infectious hospital waste: A case study for Southeast Asia
Abstract
Over the course of time various treatment technologies have evolved and are used to treat infectious hospital waste all over the world. The implemented and future treatment practices for infectious hospital wastes are discussed in current paper. It presents a review of the total hospital waste generated, and the percentage of infectious waste to be disinfected on a regular basis. Also, the actual treatment costs are addressed critically, whereas the overall situation of biomedical waste management is discussed. A multi-criteria decision method, Analytic Hierarchy Process is used to assess the best treatment …show more content…
In the present study the AHP method was used in order to perform the assessment, mainly due the ability of the process to compare and rank decision alternatives based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria (Poh et al., 2001). Moreover, AHP uses an hierarchical structure that enables all decision makers and members of the evaluation team to visualize the problem by taking into account relevant criteria, whilst the team can revise the hierarchical structure, if necessary, with additional criteria and compare and determine the weights of these criteria, systematically (Bascetin, 2007). In general AHP is a known method which has been applied in numerous case studies before, including those for assessment of technologies used for environmental and waste management (Abu Samah et al., 2007; Bascetin, 2007) and in particular for hospital waste management (Hsu et al., 2007; Brent et al., 2007; Karamouz et al., …show more content…
Table 1: Criteria of Technological Effectiveness of the Treatment Technologies
Criteria Definition
Process capacity Medical waste treating capacity per hour.
Waste exclusion Certain types of waste categories are not treated.
Waste Size limitation Limitations regarding the size of waste that is being treated.
Waste Change Change in the physical characteristic of the waste after undergoing the treatment
Volume change Reduction in the volume of the waste after its treatment.
Disfigurement and Dryness Technology should render the waste disfigured and dry to aid in transportation and handling.
Decontamination It’s the main purpose of the technological process. Thus treated residue must be sterile and have high log reduction value.
Performance Data Availability of data to demonstrate the decontamination efficiency of the technology.
Process Complexity Complexity involved in the process and handlers needed.
Operator Training Skill required by the operator to perform the waste decontamination process.
Source: Acharya D.B., Singh M, 2000, The book of Hospital Waste Management. Minerva Press, New Delhi,
Abstract
Over the course of time various treatment technologies have evolved and are used to treat infectious hospital waste all over the world. The implemented and future treatment practices for infectious hospital wastes are discussed in current paper. It presents a review of the total hospital waste generated, and the percentage of infectious waste to be disinfected on a regular basis. Also, the actual treatment costs are addressed critically, whereas the overall situation of biomedical waste management is discussed. A multi-criteria decision method, Analytic Hierarchy Process is used to assess the best treatment …show more content…
In the present study the AHP method was used in order to perform the assessment, mainly due the ability of the process to compare and rank decision alternatives based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria (Poh et al., 2001). Moreover, AHP uses an hierarchical structure that enables all decision makers and members of the evaluation team to visualize the problem by taking into account relevant criteria, whilst the team can revise the hierarchical structure, if necessary, with additional criteria and compare and determine the weights of these criteria, systematically (Bascetin, 2007). In general AHP is a known method which has been applied in numerous case studies before, including those for assessment of technologies used for environmental and waste management (Abu Samah et al., 2007; Bascetin, 2007) and in particular for hospital waste management (Hsu et al., 2007; Brent et al., 2007; Karamouz et al., …show more content…
Table 1: Criteria of Technological Effectiveness of the Treatment Technologies
Criteria Definition
Process capacity Medical waste treating capacity per hour.
Waste exclusion Certain types of waste categories are not treated.
Waste Size limitation Limitations regarding the size of waste that is being treated.
Waste Change Change in the physical characteristic of the waste after undergoing the treatment
Volume change Reduction in the volume of the waste after its treatment.
Disfigurement and Dryness Technology should render the waste disfigured and dry to aid in transportation and handling.
Decontamination It’s the main purpose of the technological process. Thus treated residue must be sterile and have high log reduction value.
Performance Data Availability of data to demonstrate the decontamination efficiency of the technology.
Process Complexity Complexity involved in the process and handlers needed.
Operator Training Skill required by the operator to perform the waste decontamination process.
Source: Acharya D.B., Singh M, 2000, The book of Hospital Waste Management. Minerva Press, New Delhi,