By Healthcare Facilities Today

Medical waste has become an incendiary issue in Utah in recent months in the face of concerns that an incinerator in North Salt Lake, operated by waste giant Stericycle Inc. is endangering the health of those who live nearby, according to an article on the Salt Lake Tribune's website. 

Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment says burning is among the worst ways to dispose of medical waste.

"Incineration not only does not remove toxins, it actually creates new ones and merely concentrates, mobilizes and redistributes existing ones," the group wrote in a letter last week asking Utah hospitals to not send waste to Stericycle.

Blue Mountain Hospital in John Day is the first Utah hospital to adopt an on-site waste-management system that is an alternative to incineration, the article said. The hospital estimates that it has lowered its monthly waste costs from $5,000 to $1,000, and it’s now helping nearby clinics with their waste.

Read the article.