Northwell Health Installing Technology to Treat Medical Waste On-Site to Facilitate Recycling
Envetec’s Generations technology will shred and disinfect waste materials that can then be recycled.
Northwell Health and Envetec Sustainable Technologies Ltd. have announced the installation of Generations technology for the on-site treatment of regulated medical waste, including single-use laboratory plastics, glass, PPE and sharps containers. Generations is a system that shreds and disinfects non-thermally using a proprietary chemical, converting laboratory waste into recyclable flake that is safe to transport.
The Generations waste processing system chemically disinfects and shreds medical waste at the source. Photo Credit: Envetec
Northwell Health is the largest health care system in New York State. “Climate change is undeniably becoming a public health crisis that requires urgent action and leadership from hospitals,” says Michael Dowling, Northwell president and CEO. “As the largest hospital network and private employer in New York, Northwell Health is fully committed to leading the transition toward a sustainable health care future. Adopting state-of-the-art clean technologies such as Generations represents an important step forward in our climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.”
Northwell's core laboratory is adopting Generations technology with plans to sustainably treat over 500,000 pounds of regulated medical waste annually on-site. This waste historically has required the conventional treatment and disposal methods of transportation, autoclaving and landfill. In comparison to standard treatment of regulated medical waste at nine global sites, Generations is projected to significantly decrease waste-related Scope 3 emissions by as much as 90%.
Prior to installation, the Generations technology was approved by the EPA and the New York State Department of Health.
“We are delighted to be partnering with one of the largest health care systems in the U.S. as Northwell Health drives meaningful innovation to meet their climate goals,” says Malcolm Bell, Envetec CEO. “Enabling laboratories to break free from their reliance on transportation, autoclaving, incineration and landfill requires a new standard in waste management. Generations treats biohazardous waste on-site and plays a crucial role in reducing Scope 3 emissions.”
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