APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING INFECTIOUS WASTE TO NON-INFECTIOUS WASTE

摘要

Infectious medical waste is rendered non-infectious by an apparatus that includes a hopper (12) into which the infectious waste is charged, a pair of grinders (22, 24) or other destruction devices that reduce the wate materials to small particles, a first heating station (26) where harmful life forms are destroyed and a cooling station (36) where the ground and heated materials are cooled to a level safe for handling by conventional trash removal personnel. Sharps containers are cut apart by an externally mounted sharps container cutter (20) that cuts the containers apart before they reach the grinders.