The WDU Solution

LIFE SAVING

Used syringes and needles contain residual blood and tissues, which may be contaminated with infectious disease. The WHO estimates that over 20 million infections of hepatitis and HIV occur yearly due to unsafe injection practices and poor waste management. The WDU addresses the disposal stage of health care waste management by providing locked dry storage for safety boxes and non-sharp waste, thoroughly destroying and sterilizing waste through high temperature incineration, safely storing toxic residual ash in a 10-year sealed pit, and substantially reducing the exposure of local communities to smoke containing carcinogenic dioxins and furans, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.

COST-EFFECTIVE

WDU In countries in which waste management infrastructure is poor, WHO recommends small-scale incineration as an affordable alternative to open pit burning or burial. The WDU is more than just an incinerator; it’s a complete small-scale Health Care Waste Management facility. The WDU includes components that are difficult to manufacture, expensive or unavailable in-country, which makes installation costs more predictable. In addition to the standard kit assembly drawings and instructions, the WDU comes with a complete set of civil engineering drawings and balance of local materials list to avoid unforeseen and unnecessary in-country expenses or unsuited designs to the overall function of a self-contained medical waste destruction facility. Additionally, the units are preheated and burned down with any locally available dry biomass. Once preheated, the incinerator uses the caloric value of plastics to maintain high temperatures, thus greatly minimizing operating costs of the system relative to diesel/electric/ biomass assisted combustion processes.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Vacinnation The mismanagement of health-care risk waste poses a threat to both the community directly and indirectly through their environment. The WDU was custom designed to respond to the need for an affordable but environmentally safer way to dispose of routine medical and immunization campaign waste. Toxic and particulate emissions are drastically reduced by the two chamber high temperature design with automatic flue control. Residual sharps and ash, which is also toxic and rich in heavy metals, are safely contained in the sheltered ash pit beneath the structure and are prevented from contaminating water tables, wells, lakes and rivers on which life depends. The WDU’s ability to self sustain combustion in the absence of auxiliary fuel is also key to lowering its overall impact, particularly in countries affected by deforestation and desertification, or in the context of rapidly depleting supplies of fossil fuels.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

buring waste This well-integrated kit requires minimal local expertise to install, and no more than the skills of a mason, a carpenter, a civil engineer to interpret the drawings and some local labor. The unit can be located anywhere as long as it is 30m from the closest inhabited building and 10m above the nearest water table. No electricity nor fossil fuels are required, and operation does not require literacy (analog temperature gage). Maintenance and repair can also be undertaken locally without outside technical assistance (spare parts kit available). Most small-scale incinerators have a maximum tolerance for 15-25% plastics in a load to avoid severely compromising their operational lifetime. The WDU’s can handle 100% plastics which makes it ideal for developing countries in which immunization campaigns occur frequently, and the routine medical waste stream is saturated with syringes.

Waste Disposal Unit (WDU) at a glance

An efficient health care waste solution

Healthcare waste is hazardous and disposal poses a serious health risk to local communities and their environment. A well-planned waste management system should be an integral part of any health facility. In developing countries, medical waste is typically disposed of by burial, open-pit burning, barrel burning, artisanal ovens, incineration, and chemical decomposition. The WDU is a small -scale incinerator appropriate in size for rural hospitals and primary health care facilities. Unlike most incinerators ,the WDU can tolerate up to100% plastic (safety boxes) which makes it ideal for not only routine curative waste from facilities, but also from overflow of waste from immunization campaigns.

Of the small-scale autocombustion incinerators available on the market, the WDU has shown improved efficiency on a number of crucial levels:

Reduced hazardous emissions including particulates
Increased levels of destruction
Operational safety
Cost efficiency
100% plastic tolerance
Durability

A small-scale auto-combustion solution for sharp and non-sharp combustible medical waste
Handles waste produced at smaller health facilities and rural clinics.
Ideal for the management of waste, and in particular, safety boxes from immunization campaigns.
Consumes 25+ five-litre safety boxes in 4 hours (approximately 25 kg of waste).
The rate of burning is about 8-10 kg/hr if operated according to best practices.
Adheres to WHO-recommended practices for rural Health Care Waste Management.

WDU

Criteria	WDU performance
Kg per hour	8-10 Kg
Operating costs	€ 1.5 / day
Hours per day	4
Plastic permissible in load	60-100%
Installation time	9 days
Installation costs (civil works)	€ 500 to € 900 *
Ease of operation	Excellent
Maintenance costs	€ 20/ year
Warranty	5 years on all metal parts
Hidden costs	None
* Installation costs refer to locally purchased materials such as cement, sand, rebar, wood for slab casings etc, and local labor. For instance, costs in Africa are substantially higher than in Asia, hence the range in costs.

WDU Characteristics

FEATURES

Auto-combustion design
Dual combustion chamber incinerator
Analog battery-less temperature gage
Automatic flue control
Primary and secondary air intakes
100% stainless steel components
3.5 inch refractory walls
Galvanized steel enclosure and shelter
Operator tool cabinet

ACCESSORIES

Operator clothing: goggles, mask, gloves
Incinerator operating tools
Inspector equipment assessment forms
Operator logbook for waste deposited and destroyed

STORAGE CAPACITY

180 Safety boxes
20 kg biomass
10-year ash storage

LOADING CHARACTERISTICS

27 kg per 4hr day with 100% Plastic
21 kg per 4hr day with 60% Plastic and 40% non-sharp waste

AuxilLiary fuel

1-2 kg biomass per 4hr cycle for 30mn warm-up and burn-down phases (* depends on heat value of fuel)

PERFORMANCE

600^oC to 900^oC if used according to “Best Practices”

WDU components

Small-scale auto-combustion incinerator.
Ash/needle pit for residual ash, glass and metallic parts, including needles. Capacity to store residues for at least ten years. The 3.25m3 ash pit can store ash from 300 safety boxes per month over a period of twelve years.
Shelter to protect the incinerator, waste and re-heating fuel from the elements. The shelter also supports the 4m stack.
Waste store for safety boxes and non-sharp waste bags.
A fuel store to stock agro-residues or wood required to preheat the incinerator. Capacity: Stock fuel for at least 5 incineration sessions.
Storage box to keep tools, protective clothing and records.
Enclosure with a lockable door.
Safety box deposit aperture.
Needle container deposit aperture.

The WDU comes with

Documentation

Installation manual with detailed civil works drawings
Balance of materials list required for civil works
Operator’s manual available in both English & French

Spare Parts

Temperature gage
10 high-grade refractory bricks
Thermal paper & high temperature glue

WDU Order Information

Delivery Schedule

Please allow minimum three weeks for shipment after a commercially clear purchase order is received. This is applicable to a purchase order of up to 4 kits. Larger orders could result in longer delivery times.

Quantity Discount

Orders of 5 kits or more can avail quantity discounts. For specific quantities, enquiries may be sent directly to the supplier at info@create.org.in

Warranty

We provide limited ex-works warranty of 5 years for stainless steel components and 2 years for rest of system from the date of shipment.

Training

Free installation and operation training with order of 20+ units.

WDU Kit pricing

Kits	Details	Approx. Weight (kg/set)*	Ex-Works Price/set (€)
Kit-I	All stainless steel and other metallic components of the incinerator including the stack, temperature measuring device and regulation valves	160	752
Kit-II	All refractory components including bricks, gaskets and bonding agent	500	2,101
Kit-III	One complete set of operator tools and safety equipment	1,000	2,889
Kit-IV	All components for WDU structure, comprising shelter and protective enclosure, but excluding the incinerator	30	229
Kit-V	One complete set of spare parts for up to 5 WDU	1,650	3,118
Kit-VI	A complete WDU including Kits I, II, III and IV

* Weight is approximate. Add about 15% for packaging
** All prices are in Euros and do not include installation or training

About CREATE

CREATE is an Indian non-profit public trust. It aims to promote the present and future benefits of sustainable development particularly but not limited to geographically, economically and socially disadvantaged regions of the world.

CREATE was conceived to:

Conduct research in renewable energy, energy efficiency, air and water pollution mitigation, medical devices and waste treatment and biodiversity conservation to enhance local economies, health standards, and educational quality and water security.
Source, produce and disseminate energy and environmentally related technological solutions and products which support sustainable development, improve health and educational services and water security.
Build human resource capacity through training and related initiatives in the energy and physical and social environmental sectors to create awareness, and competencies including commitment to sustainable development.
Implement social schemes and projects that enhance sustainable development through improving and enforcing improvement in the social and physical environment of child social well-being, health, and education.