Incinerate, Do Not Bury

Stop Burying Waste

The practice of burying waste has been part of our society for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. Go back to the devastating spread of the Black Death in the 1300s. The Bubonic Plague swept across the globe, killing more than 20 million people in Europe alone – almost one-third of the continent’s population at the time. One of the primary disposal methods of the dead then was to bury them.

Times of national emergency such as that where large numbers of deceased must be quickly and safely disposed of is when these issues come to light. This issue is more of an issue in the animal world, where mass disease and death are much more common.

We have experienced issues in the past with BSE outbreak, Avian Flu & ASF. In some cases when hundreds of thousands of animals are being culled each day, the provision for disposal is simply to bury. This sadly does not eradicate the disease and in cases where BSE carcasses were buried, those areas cannot be used for many years after.

As our society has progressed in its understanding of hygiene, disease, and biosecurity there have been major steps forward in dealing with potentially harmful waste types. Unfortunately, there is still progress yet to be made.

At Waste Spectrum we hear from customers around the world everyday who say that there is not adequate provision for waste disposal, especially in the medical sector. Lack of infrastructure and waste management organisations in many areas mean that operatives often find they have little option but to bury their waste – they feel helpless.

What is being overlooked is that the knock-on effect that burying waste may have on public health, the environment and society can be devastating. The possibility of further spread or fresh outbreak of the disease is still there. Areas used for burial are often destroyed for any form of farming or natural use for decades, sometimes indefinitely.

There is no better way to dispose of waste forms including medical and animal waste than by incinerating them. A Waste Spectrum incinerator can be an efficient and cost-effective solution that ensure biosecurity and piece of mind that the waste has been destroyed of ethically.

At Waste Spectrum Incineration Systems, we have the industry’s widest range of incinerators, all designed and engineered to specifically dispose of the waste type you in question. Our incineration systems thermally treat the waste at extremely high temperatures to ensure everything is reduced to ash and sterilised. All our incinerators have a secondary combustion chamber which retains harmful emissions and thermally treats them to reduce toxicity levels.

Why not just use a fire pit, or build a bonfire you might ask? Well the reason for this firstly because it takes extremely high temperatures to kill the cells of many diseases. Those sorts of temperatures simply cannot be achieved on an open fire – in our incinerators we can set the required temperature. Secondly, in open fire pits the risk of cross contamination where fluids containing harmful cells of diseases can drip into the ground is extremely high.

We urge all organisations dealing with potentially harmful waste streams to have a discussion with one of our experts who can help you find a solution for ethical and safe disposal of your waste.