CSIR-NIIST technology for converting biomedical waste into soil additives to be validated at AIIMS – Protype rig Installed

New Delhi: Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) the first experimental prototype of an automated biomedical waste conversion rig that can disinfect pathogenic biomedical waste such as blood, urine, sputum, and laboratory disposables and convert them into soil additives.

The rig, christened as “Sṛjanam,” is developed by National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram. It replaces costly and energy-intensive incinerators, besides imparting a pleasant fragrance to these foul-smelling toxic waste.

Formally commissioning the rig at the AIIMS campus, Dr Singh said the amount of biomedical waste produced in the country is on the increase. In 2021-22, biomedical waste generated was 700 tonnes per day. It went up to 743 tonnes per day within a year.

In this context, he said, quoting WHO statistics, the amount of daily pathogenic biomedical waste generation is 0.5 – 0.75 kg per bed in hospitals in the country. All of this is infectious and the nursing staff are getting maximum exposed to it.

Dr Singh said all the decisions of the present government are technology driven. This was evident from the first 100-day programme of the present government.

He said India is transforming into one of the biggest economic powers of the world. In this situation, we need to have an effective system in matters like waste disposal.