A new Rotoclave (rotating autoclave) at Cornell's Waste Management Facility promises to dispose of the university's medical wastes in a safe, environmentally friendly manner, while saving energy.

The new equipment was dedicated in a brief ceremony May 19 attended by Alfonso Torres, the College of Veterinary Medicine's associate dean for public policy; Paul Jennette, the college's biosafety engineer; members of the Cornell Community Waste Management Advisory Committee (CCWMAC); and others.

The Rotoclave consists of a rotating cylinder that can handle about 500 pounds per load, treating the contents with steam at 280 degrees for 30 minutes, agitating it throughout the processing cycle. The sterilized waste is then run through a shredder before dropping into an enclosed compacting dumpster along with the solid treated remains from the waste facility's animal digester. At that point, the waste has met the requirements of the facility's New York State Department of Environmental Conservation permit and is safe for trucking to a landfill. Departments across campus generate a quarter-million pounds of medical waste per year.

Last spring, Cornell replaced the old incinerator on campus with a new digester for disposing of animal remains. Until now, the university has employed an outside disposal company for medical waste. In the early 1990s, the university had proposed building a new incinerator that would handle both animal remains and medical waste. The decision to forgo incineration resulted from years of planning by CCWMAC, which includes Cornell faculty and staff, local government officials, and representatives from environmental groups and the Forest Home Improvement Association.

Together, the Rotoclave and the digester are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly than an incinerator. "This new system uses only about a quarter of the energy that the incinerator used, and it handles both animal remains and medical waste," said Jennette.

"We as citizens have an interest in waste disposal practices that are as safe and energy efficient as possible," said Ruth Mahr, a Forest Home resident and a CCWMAC member. "This is a better option environmentally than incinerating plastic," she added, referring to early plans for burning the red plastic medical waste bags, which would release smoke and carcinogens into the air.

Along with environmental benefits, the new Rotoclave increases health safety for workers as medical bags are now handled fewer times, and it makes the university self-sufficient when treating medical waste, an important consideration in the event of a pandemic or other emergency, when Cornell could lose the services of a commercial vendor.

Waste management staff will monitor the medical waste treatment in three ways. First, sensors in the Rotoclave automatically monitor the temperature, pressure and duration of each treatment. Second, staff place test strips in each load to ensure that the proper treatment conditions have been met. Finally, operators insert samples of temperature-resistant, hardy bacterial spores -- indicator organisms that are an industry standard for testing autoclaves -- once every 40 loads. Since pathogens are easier to kill, proof that the system killed the bacterial spores shows that the Rotoclave is working properly. All such actions are logged as part of the waste disposal permit requirements.