Technology selection for infectious medical waste treatment using the analytic hierarchy process

The overall objective of this paper was to evaluate five different technologies used for infectious medical waste treatment and select the optimum one by means of multicriteria analysis. Steam disinfection was selected as the optimum treatment technology, among others using incineration, microwave disinfection, chemical disinfection with sodium hypochlorite, and reverse polymerization with microwaves. The evaluation was based on four groups of criteria, specifically, environmental, economic, technical, and social criteria, using the analytic hierarchy process. Selection among four commercial systems using steam disinfection was not possible, because it required additional site-specific criteria, e.g., loading capacity and requirements of local regulations. Implications: The paper can help health care facilities to select the system for infectious waste treatment that best fits their needs. It was concluded that steam disinfection was the optimum technology, using environmental, economic, technical, and social criteria.