A waste management system has been developed by HSS to safely manage potentially hazardous biomedical waste and to render it sterile. It is essential that each component of the waste management system is implemented to ensure an effective operation and to meet current and future regulatory requirements. The process has been developed to comply with international standards and the Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act.

HSS manages drivers, collection routes, and dispatch for scheduled and non-scheduled collection of packaged containers. Each container is examined for leakage, packaging and labeling requirements to ensure compliance with Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. The waste manifest is confirmed and all documents verified and completed.

At completion of collection routes, all trucks return to the treatment facility where waste containers are unloaded and categorized. Waste is recorded by the automated tracking system and transferred to the respective treatment process.

The HSS HydroClave® treatment technology is a double-walled cylindrical vessel, horizontally mounted, with two top loading doors and a unloading door located at the bottom.

The vessel is fitted with a motor driven shaft, to which are attached powerful fragmenting/mixing arms that break apart and rotate the waste inside the vessel.

When steam is introduced to the vessel jacket it transmits heat rapidly to the fragmented waste which, in turn, produces steam of its own.

Temperature, pressure and mixing continue for 30 minutes at 121° C to achieve 6 Log 10 reduction.

At the completion of the 30 minute cycle the vessel is depressurized, removing most of the water content from the waste through a comnination of heat and flashing.

The mixing mechanism reverses rotation, and unloads the waste through the bottom opening onto a conveyor that leads to a shredder and compactor unit. The shredded and compacted waste is now suitable for municipal landfill.

The refrigerated storage unit is maintained at 4° C. The capacity adheres to governmental standards to ensure adequate storage in the event of a disaster or the plant is unable to process waste.

The HSS treatment process uses no chemicals for the destruction and sterilization of waste. At the completion of the HydroClave® treatment cycle the waste is mechanically unloaded onto a conveyor and moved directly into a shredder and then compacted. The shredded treated waste is sterile and may be disposed following local Solid Waste Management Regulations.

HSS follows all government requirements such as biological testing of treated waste, record keeping of PSI, sterilization time and temperature for each batch. Electronic records are maintained to ensure all information is available as and when required.

Manifest data is also maintained both electronically and in hard copy to meet Waste Management Act Regulations. The final phase of the process is electronic billing and certification of destruction. Detailed work orders and invoices are prepared for each customer.