Utah hospital rethinks waste disposal

University of Utah Health Science, following a call to shut down the North Salt Lake incinerator for alleged emissions violations, is rethinking its waste practices. One option the hospital group is considering is an on-site machine to sterilize waste and render it nonhazardous for disposal in lined landfills, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah hospitals produce 97 tons of waste per day, most of it paper, cardboard and food waste they recycle or dump in landfills, the article said. Concern is over the infectious medical waste that hospitals also send to the incinerator. Ninety percent of this material emits greenhouse gasses, dioxins and other toxic substances. Article