Description
Medical waste incineration is one of the most misunderstood sectors in solid waste management. Decades-old statistics continue to circulate in academic literature, policy discussions, and public reporting even as the regulatory landscape has fundamentally changed.
Drawing on regulatory records, facility permits, emissions inventories, and FOIA responses, this report documents what the modern hospital, medical, and infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) sector actually looks like today: fewer than a dozen operating facilities, all functioning under stringent federal standards, with emissions reductions exceeding 99% for key pollutants including mercury, dioxins, and particulate matter. The report also examines the comparative performance of on-site versus off-site incineration and addresses persistent claims about transportation risk that the data do not support.
For operators, regulators, policymakers, and researchers, this report offers an essential evidence-based update on a sector that looks almost nothing like the one described in the literature most people are still citing.
$0.00
