Status: 翱狈骋翱滨狈骋听June 2018 -听
The Biomedical Waste Sterilization project aims to reduce GHG emissions by replacing the weekly trucking of non-anatomical biomedical waste for disposal听from Montreal to Brampton (ON) with a local sterilizing shredder (autoclave) for on-campus use by Hazardous Waste Management (HWM).
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On average, UU直播's research operations are generating 50 000 kg of non-anatomical biomedical waste annually.听The waste is transported on a weekly-basis to a听disposal site, located in Brampton (ON).听The weekly 1200-km round-trip from Montreal is a source of negative environmental impacts: the frequency of trips to the sterilizing site increase the chances of an accident involving hazardous material; and unshredded waste has a large landfill impact.听
The project involves听installation of a shredding sterilizer (also known as an autoclave) for use by Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) to treat non-anatomical biomedical waste locally, which represents roughly 65% of total biomedical waste volume generated on campus.This new autoclave would mainly be for the sterilization of the wastes collected by HWM, however it can also be made available to the departments who autoclave their own wastes and could result in the elimination of some of the local autoclaves.
A switch to a centralized autoclave would result in a 65% immediate reduction in the number of boxes trucked to Brampton, ON each week, an 80% volume reduction in waste sent to landfill, and a decrease in the carbon footprint associated with this operation.听
Finally, the number of biohazard certificates, required for a researcher to work with infectious material, is on the rise, which suggests that the volumes of biomedical waste generated by UU直播 research is going to increase in the short to medium term. Savings made by autoclaving that waste locally would potentially be substantial.
Resources from the SPF will be used to purchase the equipment (autoclave, bins, holders) as well as cover maintenance of the autoclave.听
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Contact
christian.bouchard [at] mcgill.ca (Christian Bouchard)
