What are the most common waste-reduction or recycling methods for medical metal fabrication?
Are they effective? Jablons: I recall that when I began in the industry tri-chlor was being phased out for cleaning parts spot-free and chemical coolants were often still used. The former is famously bad for the ozone layer and the latter is harmful to both human operators and is also a disposal hazard. Now there are many spotless cleaners that are environmentally benign. The trend towards greater precision has also meant that important parts of machines are often made from carbides and therefore using plain water as a coolant is not a problem. Another benefit of miniaturization is that the parts are getting smaller, so when compared with the environmental impact and energy consumed making structural metal, medical device metal fabricators produce far less waste and the waste is far easier to manage and clean. MPMN: The rise of biocompatible ceramic components and the exploration of nanotechnology indicate that other materials may replace metal in many medical applications. How might t
