What kind of maintenance can be expected from shredding treated medical waste?
Aside from the high capital cost required to purchase a shredding system, shredders also require a significant financial obligation for maintenance. Many shredder suppliers and manufacturers will lay claim to having “trouble-free” or “maintenance-free” shredders. However, as a company that has manufactured more medical waste shredders than any other company, we at San-I-Pak know the liabilities posed by shredding. Medical waste is sometimes comprised of materials that are very damaging to shredders (i.e., titanium hip pins, bone reamers, etc.). In addition, other materials such as linen and bedding often will wrap around the shredder and cause the system to lockup requiring constant vigilance. Annual maintenance cost usually equals 18 to 25% of original purchase price. Some treatment technologies also require or highly recommend a dedicated full time employee (FTE) to probe through the treated waste prior to shredding to retrieve non-shreddable objects. The purpose is to minimize maint
