System and process for treatment of and sterilization of waste including medical waste

Abstract

A process for treating compostable medical waste, including compostable personal protective equipment (PPE), comprises subjecting the waste to a combination of physical, thermal, enzymatic and bacterial processes to digest the waste and subjecting the waste to sterilisation using a plasma device. The waste is first shredded before being subjected to aerobic digestion using saprotrophic organisms with the digested waste being sterilised using plasma. Ideally, the compostable medical waste F2 is mixed with food waste F1. A system for treating waste comprising a bio-digester 200 containing bacteria for breaking down organic material and a plasma device 210, 212 for delivering plasma to sterilise the waste. [Use fig 10]