Pharmaceutical Waste to Energy: How Does it Work?

At MedAssureServices.com, we disinfect pharmaceutical waste so thoroughly that it is safe for transfer to waste-to-energy plants. This allows your disinfected waste to be a part of a process called energy recovery.

Energy recovery harnesses electric and thermal energy from alternative sources like pharmaceutical waste, reducing the need for energy produced by burning coal. In the long term, energy recovery systems could decrease the number of coal power plants across the country, improve air quality, and combat climate change.

Incineration is the most common waste-to-energy technique. Incinerators can reduce the volume of waste by as much as 96 percent, but they are only 14 to 28 percent energy-efficient and release small particulate and gas emissions into the atmosphere. More modern waste-to-energy techniques such as gasification can convert pharmaceutical waste more efficiently into gas or liquid fuels.

Of course, energy recovery through waste-to-energy systems is only one benefit of medical waste management. In addition to readying the waste for energy conversion, medical waste services also keep infected and/or radioactive waste a safe distance from the community, thus reducing the spread of disease.