Stericycle opens medical waste incineration facility

Stericycle Inc., a Bannockburn, Illinois-based provider of regulated medical waste management and secure information destruction solutions, has unveiled its latest Hospital, Medical and Infectious Waste Incinerator (HMIWI) facility, located at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center in McCarran, Nevada.

The 10,000-square-foot facility will help address the region’s growing need for medical waste management, Stericycle says, which is being driven largely by increasing demand and evolving federal, state and local regulations for proper pharmaceutical and medical waste disposal.

Stericycle invested nearly $110 million to construct and equip the facility with innovative systems and engineering advancements to safely treat potentially infectious materials and safely dispose of unwanted medications. The site has also been designated as a Shred-it bailing facility to support a circular paper economy through the company's suite of shredding services, which are designed to protect private information.

"Leveraging decades of experience, our McCarran facility was purposefully designed to protect public health and the environment now and into the future and will serve as a blueprint for potential future operations," Stericycle President and CEO Cindy J. Miller says. "As a trusted and essential partner to hospitals and healthcare providers, this is a much-needed resource to keep our communities safe and healthy."

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Like all Stericycle incineration facilities, the Nevada facility will operate under strict state and federal emissions standards for HMIWIs, which are stricter standards than those imposed on hazardous and municipal waste incinerators. The facility was outfitted with air pollution control system to protect employees and the community as well as auxiliary systems to ensure uninterruptible services during power outages.

A plant process water reuse system, created by Stericycle to help meet its goal of reducing dependency on water and natural gas, will result in no industrial wastewater discharge from the facility, the company says. The facility is using reclaimed water with onsite treatment, and Stericycle also incorporated waste-to-energy technology, which will generate steam energy from the waste treatment process that will be used to provide energy to heat water for container washers versus using natural gas.        

"Through our McCarran facility, we are adding additional resilience to our industry-leading network across North America while supporting our own sustainability and safety goals," says Jim Ferguson, senior vice president of engineering at Stericycle. "We have set a new standard for the future of the regulated medical waste industry by going beyond today's air and water standards to reduce our impact on the environment. The facility is a true investment in our team members, the community and the local economy."

Last year, Stericycle treated 1.3 billion pounds of medical waste and shredded and recycled 906 million pounds of paper globally, in addition to safely disposing of approximately 55 million pounds of expired medications, according to the company.