Clinical waste pyrolysis provider Pyropure is calling on hospitals to rethink how they manage their clinical waste, following the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus, which is often fatal and can be transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people, has killed over 1,000 people in recent months and is thought to be the worst outbreak of the disease since 1976.
Although the UK is thought to be at ‘small risk’ from the disease, Peter Selkirk, the new Executive Chairman of PyroPure, which specialises in small-scale, on-site pyrolysis facilities, is calling for clinical sites to rethink the way they handle their hazardous waste, adding that the UK is “woefully underprepared when it comes to hazardous waste disposal in high-risk environments”.
He said: “Whilst a widespread UK outbreak of Ebola remains unlikely, the devastation it has caused in West Africa should provide a wake up call to the UK.
“It is too risky to continue the outdated practices of storage of infected hospital waste and its transportation over the highways to incinerators. There are a number of ‘touch points’ through the cradle to grave waste disposal chain where manual handling poses a risk.”
He added: “The UK must adopt a smarter approach to the way in which it manages clinical waste; one that not only reduces risks and incidents of infection but also processes that doesn’t leave anything to chance.”
Selkirk highlighted that Pyropure is developing a system that uses pyrolysis to facilitate the on-site destruction of waste, which could be adopted by organisations that typically handle clinical and pharmaceutical waste.
Find out more about PyroPure.
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