RBW-2075

Welcome

SterAssure is a cost-saving environmentally friendly disposal system for bio-hazardous medical waste generated by hospitals and medical centers.  Our machine sterilizes waste on site using steam and heat instead of the expensive and environmentally harmful methods currently employed across the industry.

Our product is vastly superior to all of our competitors in size, speed and efficiency.  This unit does what others cannot. It does it cheaper, faster, is a "green" solution, and costs significantly less than anything currently offered.

"The cost-savings to the hospital will be tremendous." 

The Right Solution

SterAssure revolves around a piece of equipment that takes red bag waste, or hospital bio-hazard material, and not only reduces its volume but also sterilizes the waste.  This makes it possible to take what was once hazardous material, and turn it into normal waste.  Imagine a hospital or surgery center not having to pay an outside company to haul away their red bag waste but instead, sterilize it on property, and throw it in their normal trash dumpster.  The cost-savings to the hospital will be tremendous.  In addition to cost-savings, our system offers the hospital a “green” solution in that it eliminates the bio-hazardous material (via sterilization) as well as recycles most of the heat and water needed to perform the process.  Our plan is to put these machines in every hospital around the world, making them the industry standard for red bag disposal.

 

Benefits of SterAssure

  • The SterAssure takes up roughly 26 square feet and can handle 250 pounds of red bag waste per hour. 
  • Our machine is extremely easy to operate and training will be provided
  • Onsite maintenance staff can be SterAssure certified to make repairs should a need arise while also having phone support if those repairs become too complex.
  • Our product monitors itself during use and reports any variances both on the command module as well as remotely via the internet.
  • Due to its size, and lack of complexity, the installation is simple and can be flexible. 
  • The simplistic nature of our system means there are less moving parts than our competitors. If something should go wrong, it offers a short repair time. 
  • Our unit also prints a confirmation ticket once the cycle is complete. This provides the facility with a paper trail documenting successful sterilization and disposal.
  • Not only is our product superior in what it does, it is also a “Green” solution.  It recycles the heat which means less electricity to operate. It also recycles most of the water needed thus consuming very little during the process.  The biohazards are not placed in landfills, nor are chemicals or toxic fumes introduced into the environment as is the case with incineration or chemically sterilized solutions. 
  • It costs significantly less than the competitors’ products.
  • It costs less than $.05 cents per pound to operate versus the average $.41 cents per pound charged by outside vendors to haul the waste away.
  • It is proven technology, with a long and successful track record.
  • Easily understood and widely accepted by hospital staff and executives.
  • It is approved or accepted technology in all states.
  • The time-temperature parameters needed to achieve high levels of disinfection are well-established.
Autoclaves are available in varying sizes, able to address small amounts of red bag waste to large amounts in one cycle.

Other Methods of Red Bag Waste Disposal

Haul Away Method
Sterilization by Incineration
Chemical Sterilization

The Wrong Solution

 

Red Bag Waste, What is it?

There are multiple definitions used for Red Bag Waste (which is also referred to as regulated, infective, infectious, and biohazardous waste).  A definition from OSHA defines biohazardous waste as:

  • Any liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials;
  • Contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed;
  • Items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious materials and are capable of releasing these materials during handling;
  • Sharps (including needles, scalpel blades, glass, pipettes) contaminated with blood and body fluids;
  • Pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious materials.

 

Other Methods of Red Bag Waste Disposal

Haul Away Method
There are many different companies that offer this solution to medical facilities, local or national companies but how they handle the waste can be drastically different.  Some companies are taking the bio-hazardous material to special landfills, while others are taking the material to an approved disposal facility.  These approved facilities either incinerate or use chemicals to sterilize the waste.  There are problems with these methods such as burning plastics polluting the atmosphere, and the chemical treatment method is harmful to the environment while some items such as syringes may not be sterilized.  Another major issue with the haul away method are ethics. If the company that is disposing of the waste does not follow the best practices, it opens the facility to lawsuits as well as exposing the public to health risks.  The medical facility is also at the mercy of these companies as government regulations, fuel costs and other added expenses are passed on to the customer.

 

Sterilization by Incineration

What is Incineration?
Incineration is the process of the destruction of waste by converting the organic material to carbon dioxide and water vapors by fire.

Advantages of Incineration
Incineration remains a prevalent treatment method throughout the United States despite growing concern for the environment. There are advantages to incinerating medical waste which primarily include the fact that medical waste, once incinerated is reduced by about 90% in volume. Additionally, incineration assures the completed destruction and sterilization of medical waste. Another advantage to incineration is that almost any type of medical waste can be incinerated with the exception of items that contain mercury and plastics that contain PVC.

Disadvantages of Incineration
There are many disadvantages to incineration, such as potential pollution risks due to large amounts of emissions that result from the burning of regulated medical waste. Recently, many states have imposed very strict guidelines on pollution emissions which have caused the need for upgrades and many changes to medical waste incinerators in order to comply with emissions regulations. These changes have greatly increased the cost of incineration.

Incineration Being Supplemented by New Technologies
Chances are that incineration, though a widely used practice of medical waste treatment in the United States, will soon become obsolete to other treatment technologies. Today, about 80% of hospitals in California already use various alternatives to incineration as a result of emissions regulations within the state. Various factors account for medical facilities to decrease their dependence on incineration including:

  • Increased cost of incineration as a result of the increased equipment needs for facilities to meet emission standards and regulations
  • Permitting difficulties associated with finding new incineration facilities
  • Uncertainty associated with the various incineration requirements on a federal, state and local level
  • Increased availability of other medical waste treatment options (alternatives to incineration) that have been deemed safer, more effective or cleaner for the environment.

 

Chemical Sterilization

Advantages of Chemical Treatments
There really are none, while you are treating biohazardous waste, the question looms of risk versus reward

Disadvantages of Chemical Treatments
The obvious disadvantage of chemical treatment systems is that they consume chemicals. In addition, even if they are effective in rendering the waste noninfectious, the products of the chemical reactions they undergo are present in the waste, and may pose problems of their own. However, chemical treatment systems are convenient, and may be suitable in some situations, particularly when small quantities of waste are involved.

One of the most common constituents of chemical treatment systems is chlorine, either in the form of sodium hypochlorite solution (common bleach), or as the more powerful (and correspondingly more hazardous) gas, chlorine dioxide. These compounds are relatively cheap and effective. However, in the course of reacting with organic compounds, they tend to form objectionable byproducts such as chloroform and other persistent toxins.

The chlorine compounds work by “oxidizing” (stripping electrons from) organic compounds, including the constituents of pathogenic microorganisms. The original “oxidizer” is, of course, atmospheric oxygen. Although it is, in fact, a fairly powerful oxidizing agent, ordinary oxygen is not harmful to, and is in fact essential for the survival of, many organisms including most of the pathogens in medical waste. However, when oxygen (O2) is converted to ozone (03), a much stronger oxidizer, it becomes toxic to most life forms. Ozone can readily be generated by passing an electric arc through ordinary oxygen gas. When used in a medical waste treatment system, ozone acts as an effective sterilizer, without the tendency to generate the types of by-products found with chlorine compounds. The major problem encountered with ozone systems is the need to avoid exposure to anyone in the vicinity of the treatment system, since ozone is highly injurious to lungs.

Alkaline agents are also used in medical waste treatment, either in highly corrosive form (sodium hydroxide, or lye), or in somewhat milder form (calcium oxide, or quicklime). Alkali tends to hydrolyze (decompose) proteins, among other effects. Apart from the cost of the reagents, the major disadvantage is the risk of contact, since alkaline solutions damage skin and lungs.

Disinfectants like glutaraldehyde and peracetic acid are also used for small-scale medical waste treatment.

Permits and Certifications

SterAssure currently has permits for these units from the States of North Carolina and South Carolina.  Our unit has been rigorously tested to exceed all requirements from State credentialing agencies. 

Steam sterilization is approved in all 50 states but each state has their own methods of certification.

We are currently working with the State of Florida to obtain our permit with others to follow.

Our Product

We have a rigorously tested, fully functioning, regulatory compliant machine.  At its current size, it could easily handle the needs of a 200 bed hospital.  This will be our “standard unit”. We have plans, however, to offer the unit in a variety of sizes to better suit the needs of the many different types of medical facilities.  Maintenance plans will be available for a monthly fee should the facility feel more comfortable with us servicing the unit versus certifying an in-house maintenance employee.

 

What is needed for Installation?

  • Electricity – A 208 Volt 3 phase AC with a 30 amp connection is needed to power the unit.
  • Steam – Every hospital has a source of steam and since this sterilizes with steam a connection will be necessary.
  • Sewer – A sewer connection is needed for the drainage of water and particles of sterilized waste.
  • Water – A source of water is needed to create hot water to fill the drum in order to properly heat and sterilize at the correct temperature, however most of the water is recycled.
  • Air – Most of the valves are air controlled and do not use electricity but a source of air is needed for our unit to function.

 

Specifications for RBW-2075

Processing
Process Rate 240 lbs per hour  (Approximate)
Process Cycle Time and Rate 18 - 23 Minutes @ 80 Pounds Per Cycle
Typical Cycles per Hour Three
Typical Volume Reduction Waste is reduced from 1/3 - 1/2 of the original volume
Operating Cost About 1 - 2  Cents per pound

 

Dimensions and Weight
Depth - Front to Back 75 Inches
Width 51 Inches
Height (Open / Operating) 106 Inches
Floor Space Required 27  Square Feet
Weight 1,700 pounds

 

System Requirements
Electrical 208 Volts A.C. 3 PHASE  30 AMP
Water Requirements and Connection 3/4 inch Pipe Size @ 70 PSIG Minimum. 8 GPM
Water Consumption 14 Gallons Per Cycle (Approximately)
Steam Requirements and Connection 3/4 Inch Pipe Size @ 70 PSIG Minimum
Compressed Air Requirements 1/2 inch Pipe Size @ 80 PSIG Minimum
Drain Requirements Floor Drain (Required 4 Inch Pipe Size (Recommended)
Vent Requirements: Three
1 Inch Minimum ( 1 1 /4" Recommended) Two Required

3 / 4"  Minimum (1" Recommended) One Required>

Contact Us

For more information on our RBW-2075 model or for general questions, please fill out the form below. A representative will contact you as soon as possible, thank you.