Scientific American has an important and thoughtful piece concerning the problem of waste management in Ebola-affected regions.

Reminding us that an Ebola patient produces up to 40 times more waste than other patients, this and other challenges greatly complicate the fight against the virus. This strengthens the argument for complete destruction, by incineration or pyrolysis, at locations as close as possible to the point of arising.

Since incinerators are in short supply and cannot be shipped easily, and as the autoclave alternative results in much residual waste with no facility for onward disposal, it looks like pyrolysis could be the answer, as we have discussed recently on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum.

Read the Scientific American article here.

See also Ebola waste: isn’t incineration enough?

And Pyropure sends pyrolysis unit to tackle Ebola in West Africa