News

Out-of-state medical waste may flow to Salem trash burner

Posted June 25, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A garbage incinerator just north of Salem may soon take as much as 90 million pounds more in out-of-state medical waste.

The Statesman Journal reports (https://is.gd/opeBOM) the Marion County Commissioners will vote on the proposal to accept more medical waste at its June 29 meeting.

The county's revenue from the 30-year-old incinerator has been dropping, and medical waste is lucrative.

The county says the proposal could net the county as much as $3.4 million per year.

The incinerator, operated by Covanta Marion, currently burns about 400 million pounds of municipal garbage each year. That includes about 2.6 million pounds of medical waste. About 1.4 million pounds come from Marion County health facilities and the rest is from out of state.

If commissioners approve, Covanta would contract with Illinois-based Stericycle, the country's largest medical waste disposer, to take medical waste it collects from hospitals and medical offices in Washington and California.

___

Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com

Article Comments

Article Categories
Content Providers Illinois News Region

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.