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His goal, he says, is to find new ways to help health care facilities “green the red waste stream” by reducing the amount of medical waste that goes to landfills.

MedSharps’ key focus right now is the red containers used at hospitals to dispose of needles, gauze and anything else that may come in contact with infectious material. Typically, these items are disposed of in non-reusable bins that are sent in an incinerator to be melted down before reaching a landfill.

But last year, after partnering with Rob Marshall, Jewitt signed up to be a distributor for Sharps Away, which had recently received FDA approval for industrial washing and recycling of its red containers, ranging from two to 17 gallons. Sharps Away is a division of Solutions Inc., of Louisville, Ky.

So far, MedSharps’ biggest competitor for reusable containers is Chicago-based Stericycle, which produces a product as part of its Bio-Systems program.

The Sharps Away containers can be reused 156 times, compared to the single-use containers that must be melted down. The containers are tracked through bar coding, and randomly tested to ensure they are free from bacteria and viral infection.

“What we’ve done is provide to the facilities a container that can be used multiple times for the sharps for their facilities,” Jewitt says. “It takes the single-use-only container out of the waste stream. It has an environmental impact on the facilities.”

Indeed, a 2009 study reported in the Journal of American Medical Association, found that the health care industry was responsible for 8 percent of the country’s total carbon dioxide input, according to Science Daily. The analysis found that hospitals were by far the largest contributor, Science Daily reported.

Changing industry

Behind a reception area and a group of offices off FM Road 3009, MedSharps is sterilizing waste. A mechanical device removes the lid from the reusable bins, which are then emptied into other bins. The Sharps Away lids and containers are then put through an industrial dishwasher and removed to dry. Several feet away sits an autoclave machine. Nearby there are bins containing stacks of redbags, as well as the waste from the Sharps Away containers.

The bins are placed in an autoclave machine which “cooks” the waste for one hour. The process sterilizes the contents and reduces its size by about half. The waste is then compacted and shipped to a local landfill in San Antonio, saving money on transportation. It also saves the generator — hospital, clinic or doctor’s office — on liability because it is disposed of locally. Due to federal and state regulations known as “cradle to grave” laws, regulated by both federal and state, a generator is responsible for the waste until it is properly treated.

In comparison, competitors take non-treated waste to a treatment facility in Bastrop, where it is then deposited in a nearby landfill, adding to the carbon footprint and the liability.

Jewitt says he is currently researching ways to further recycle by-product that comes from the treated waste. For example, one possibility is removing the needles and other waste, shredding them, and using them for alternative fuels in the construction industry.

It’s all part of MedSharps’ business plan to handle all of a facility’s medical waste and develop new ways of dealing with other regulated medical waste that would further reduce cost. For example, currently MedSharps deals with trace chemotherapy waste the same way its competitors do, since Texas regulations call for such waste to only be accepted at one incinerator — Waste Management’s facility in Chamber’s County. However, MedSharps is researching an alternative treatment to trace chemotherapy waste, using a shredding process with a chlorine dioxide mixture to make it safe for a local landfill.

Big steps

So far its business has been well-received.

The South Texas Blood & Tissue Center has been using MedSharps for the past year. According to a spokeswoman for the collection and distribution center, MedSharps has saved them 30 percent of the cost from what they were paying their previous provider. “We use them because of the cost savings and customer services,” says Claudia Castano, assistant director for quality assurance. “They have great customer service throughout their organization.”

On Dec. 17, MedSharps was granted a contract to serve the South Texas Veterans Health Care System and the Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System — some 15 facilities including Audie Murphy VA Memorial Hospital, as well as Kerrville Veterans Hospital. The $206,000 annual contract is renewable for five years. The contract calls for MedSharps to treat 500 reusable sharps containers weekly, which amounts to several thousand pounds of waste each month.

Read more: MedSharps focuses on ‘greening’ medical waste | San Antonio Business Journal

MCF Systems Atlanta, Inc. was founded in 1989 with the goal of offering environmentally safe and cost effective solutions for managing hazardous and non-hazardous industrial and commercial waste.

Our comprehensive waste management program serves over 6,000 generators of various waste materials with additional capabilities including:

* Waste Disposal & Transport Services
* Industrial Services
* Site Remediation Services
* Vacuum Truck Services
* Roll-Off Container Services
* Lab Pack Services
* Dry Cleaning Waste Disposal Services
* Bio-Medical Waste Solutions
* Pharmaceutical Solutions
* Lamp, Battery & E-Waste Recycling
* Paper Shredding

* Experienced route drivers with annual training on D.O.T. and EPA hazardous materials and hazardous waste transportation regulations
* Customized computer operating system for waste tracking, document generation, routing and scheduling for service optimization
* Comprehensive commercial and pollution legal liability insurance coverage
* Waste disposal services managed by our fleet of straight trucks, over the road tractor-trailers equipped with lift gates, roll-off containers and bulk transportation to better serve you

For the convenience of our customers we also provide route service and over-the-road transporters that serve 22 states. We are fully permitted to transport virtually all types of waste materials and we maintain commercial and pollution legal liability insurance coverage for all materials in our possession.
 
Bio-Medical Waste Solutions
 
Infectious bio-medical products such as sharps, gowns, red bags, and chemotherapy waste are efficiently processed at MCF Systems Atlanta. We characterize and classify bio-medical waste in-house along with complete documentation. If required, consolidation and re-packing of waste can be provided too. The containers and liners used for processing such waste are supplied by MCF.

We employ autoclave and waste-to-energy methods to process bio-medical wastes. Transportation of the waste is through GPS-enabled trucks, which ensure efficient and safe tracking of wastes. Our bio-medical waste processing solutions comply with the standards set by the department of natural resources, EPA, and OSHA. Doctors, surgery centers, and hospitals utilize our services extensively
 
Pharmaceutical Waste Management
 
We can handle P, U, & D listed hazardous waste, chemotherapy waste, compressed gases, and corrosives. EPA RCRA-compliant incineration methods are used to dispose waste. Waste that results from air fresheners, dusting aids, general-purpose cleaners, and disinfectants can be treated too.

Our turnkey waste management services include waste identification, segregation, profiling, and labeling. To ensure safe transportation of waste, we provide GPS-enabled truck services that operate throughout the United States. Detailed document preparation and manifestation services form a part of our services too. Hospitals, pharmacies, reverse distributors, and doctor’s offices utilize our services extensively.
 

Contact: For more information
 
Robert Losurdo
MCF Systems Atlanta, Inc.
President, COO
770-593-9434 ext 15
www.mcfsystems.com

MedWay Services

&

USA Decon

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Kind Regards,

IMWTA

Further, we are still working out details of our 1st Annual Event to be held at the Waste Expo 2011 in Dallas, TX, and we have news updates coming soon as well.   

Thank you for joining the IMWTA, and we look forward to networking exciting opportunities with our newest members:

MedClean Management Solutions (No affiliation with MedClean Technologies)

Triumvirate Environmental

US Med Disposal

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Kind Regards,

IMWTA

This week, MedClean Technologies, IMWTA Members, and Sodzo Medical (Distributor of the MedClean System in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, came together in San Antonio, Texas to discuss potential regional alliances, processing facilities, TaaS (Technology as a Service), and the overall direction of the IMWTA for Texas in 2011.  Several positive results came from this, the 4th regional IMWTA meeting. 

* Sodzo Medical is aligning with a regional transporter from Texas to bid on a local Technology as a Service Opportunity

* The IMWTA has identified an area where a possible processing facility could be established in the future

* Several transporters expressed interest in MedClean Technologies Exclusive Transporter Referral Program

Upcoming Events

Next week is another regional meeting in Connecticut for the New England Transporters

The Waste Conference is being held May 11 in Dallas, TX – we are beginning to discuss this as the location for the first Annual IMWTA Annual Gathering – informally bringing the group of 60+ transporters together in a social event with sponsors MedClean Technologies to engage in discussions about the tremendous potential our Association has a collective unit

More to Come…

Kind Regards,

IMWTA

Managing your trash may prevent waste — of money. Savings will not be huge, but at a time of declining reimbursements, some practices find it worthwhile to negotiate a bit harder with companies providing such services, pay attention to additional fees and train staff to dispose of waste as cheaply as possible.

Leslie Strouse, MD, an internist with a solo practice in New Albany, Ind., saves $5 per pickup of the hazardous waste produced by the practice by going with a company that does not have a gas surcharge. The base rate per pickup is the same as a competing vendor.

Dr. Strouse also saves money by training staff to put only certain trash in the "red bag" hazardous material bins and keeping these receptacles out of patients' sight. The containers are less likely to be used for coffee cups and other detritus that belong in the office trash can. She has cut hazardous waste pickups to once every six weeks. Ordinary office waste and recycling is provided by the city and paid for through taxes.

"It's worth it," Dr. Strouse said. "In today's markets, particularly in primary care, you just don't have the luxury of wasting money, and five bucks is five bucks."

Those in the hazardous waste disposal business might offer other tips. Their costs vary widely by location, the type of medical practice and its size. How much actually can be saved depends on the practice.

"Medical practices traditionally have not focused on this area, but there are more and more ways to save money and get the best value for these services," said Linda Lee, DrPH, director of operations for Waste Management in Houston.

The first step is to identify what belongs in the hazardous waste bins and what does not. This varies by state. Waste disposal companies should be able to provide information, but generally, sharps contaminated with blood and other body fluids should be disposed of as hazardous medical waste. Exam table papers and disposable towels usually can go into the office waste stream.

"A lot of waste can go in the regular trash," Lee said. "Practices need to know what is medical waste and what is not."

Minimizing the number of red bins to only those locations that really need them may help with this effort. This is less of an issue with sharps containers, which often need to be plentiful but rarely attract other rubbish because of their design.

"You're not going to stuff paper or anything else into that," Lee said.

In addition to minimizing the hazardous waste stream, you can haggle for a better price with waste disposal companies.

You usually can find vendors through an Internet search, and bids from two or three can be used as ammunition during negotiations.

"The most common-sense thing is to price-shop," said Pete Lindemulder, owner of Bio-safe Medical Waste in Chicago. "I think that a lot of people who are under contract really don't think about it. They just let their contract continue to roll over and have 5% or 10% increases every year. … Practices need to find a few local companies and get some competitive quotes."

But experts caution that all parts of the bill need to be considered, not just the pickup price. Will there be surcharges for fuel? What about an environmental impact charge or one for documentation? Small practices, in particular, need to be aware of being stuck with fees for not hitting certain minimums.

"You want to make sure up-front what the fees are and that they are not greater than what you expect," Lindemulder said.

Medical practices may want to consider other factors besides price, such as the quality of service and the availability of educational sessions for staff. Before you sign with a firm, experts advise asking for references from similar types of medical practices and checking them out.

As a result of our internal survey from early November, we found there to be significant interest by our members to work with sponsors of the IMWTA on referral programs that enable access to products and services at optimal pricing, expanded offerings, centralization, and increased revenue opportunities for their organizations.

MedClean Technologies, our website sponsor, developed a progam specific for our Member Transporters.  The MedClean/IMWTA Referral Program achieves all of the above and more.  (3) of our Member Transporters started in this program, and have since become MedClean Distributors and have even acquired MedClean Equipment, including our Founding Members, Barnett Medical.  The program highlights include: Optimal Pricing for the MedClean System,  Revenue Generation Opportunities from Referrals, Opportunity to become Distributors, Regional Alliances, Lead Passing, and More…

(30) Member Transporters are interested in this Program and received the agreement for review yesterday.  MedClean Technologies continues to show their support of the IMWTA and their belief in our strength individually, but further as a collective unit.  They continue to develop programs that are innovative, effective, and provide significant growth opportunity for all of us.

Contact Nick@IMWTA.com for more information regarding the MedClean/IMWTA Referral Program.

Kind Regards,

IMWTA