hanchen gong
Monash University
Gitanjali Bedi
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Before 2006, incineration and landfill were the main methods in China to treat medical waste which caused a lot of pollution. Various non-incineration technologies were developed. Steam sterilization became the main technology gradually that replaced incineration and landfill because it's more environmental friendly and economical. However, there were still three major problems related to this method which include: secondary pollution during the treatment process (sewage, stink), disposal treated waste, and 10% of medical waste can not be treated (pathological, chemical and pharmaceutical waste). Gient as a leading manufacturer in China has developed a solution to solve these problems.
As mentioned above, the primary innovation is to solve the three major issues with steam sterilization of medical waste treatment system. According to my interviewee, Mr. Gong, Gient has developed following solutions.
1. Secondary pollution during treatment process: There are two solutions based on reducing the secondary pollution. Firstly, they have applied a water recycle system to reuse the treated water which would lead to zero sewage emission. Secondly, Gient has developed multiple systems to reduce the stink so that only a little stink can be smelt when near the machine.
2. Resource utilization: In order to reuse as many resources in the process as possible, Gient has come up with two solutions. First one is recycling the plastic from the waste. Plastics will cause unavoidable pollution and high operation costs. By recycling the plastics and using them to produce containers for medical use (hospital and transporting medical waste), Gient has helped both the environment and benefited the company. Meanwhile Gient is developing a new solution to use a pyrolysis procedure on treated waste to produce diesel so that the process can achieve 100% resource utilization.
3. Treatment on the other 10% of medical waste. Sharps (needles, blades, etc.) and infectious waste (textiles, injectors, etc.) contribute 90% of the medical waste. Those two kinds of waste can be treated by sterilization. However, the others such as pathological, chemical, and pharmaceutical waste can not be steam sterilized. Gient has developed a professional incinerator to treat the remaining categories of medical waste by providing different solutions and processes to treat different types of medical waste, Gient has helped China to create a better environment.
Before 2003, Gient was a major boiler manufacturer with no experience in medical waste treatment. During 2003, there were a virus called SARS which had spread widely in China causing thousands of infections and fear. By that time China has not developed related regulation and technology to treat medical waste, so a huge amount of medical waste was not treated properly and lead to massive pollution on land, air and water. Mr. Gong said that as a business man, he saw opportunity because Gient has rich experience in similar fields. But also, he said as a Chinese citizen, he saw a duty to help his country and to protect the environment. So in the last 15 years Mr. Gong and Gient has made a lot effort in advance the technology in medical waste treatment industry and has now become the leading industry in China as well as a global supplier all over the world.
According to Mr. Gong, he said the impact of Gient could have two major parts which are:
1. Decrease the cost of treated medical waste: by providing a way to solve resource utilization problems, the plastics can be recycled which would extend the product line, and create extra revenue. Also the technology to reuse the water would also decrease the sewage emission costs of the process, and less cost of using water. It will enhance the technology advancement of the whole industry and thus benefit the whole society by providing a better solution of treat medical waste.
2. Less pollution during and after the treatment: By 2006, there were over 1,000 incinerators in China and it has been decreased to 150 by 2017 and it is continually decreasing. Incineration would cause a lot more pollution than steam sterilization and would also damage the health of factory workers. Gient has made tremendous effort on decreasing the number of incineration factory by leading the technology advance in the medical waste industry so that steam sterilization could replace incineration completely. The zero emission of sewage and plastic recycling technology has benefit the environment as well.
As mentioned in the previous part, Gient was a boiler manufacturer before 2003. However, the Chinese boiler market has many similar competitors. Gient has focused more on the medical waste treatment system manufacturing since then, and has successfully transferred the company’s major business to it. Gient would not have a chance to benefit the society this much and become a leading company in technology without stepping their feet in the medical waste treatment business.
By decreasing the cost of treat the medical waste, more medical waste can be treated properly in our society. Gient is also working with local and national government to set regulations on treating medical waste and manufacturing the medical waste treatment system. The zero sewage emission and plastics recycling technology that Gient developed has made notable contribution to our environment.
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Wei Gong, chairman, ceo
Gient is a leading manufacturer of medical waste treatment in China and the world. The medical waste treatment system uses steam to sterilise medical waste such as used injections, gauze, and gloves. The machine has been sold to all five continents in the world and serves over 50 areas to treat medical waste.