Thermal systems, if you'll forgive us, are hot. Red Bag Solutions (www.redbag.com), a Baltimore Maryland-based company, is now testing its Steam Sterilizer Macerator (SSM) which uses superheated water and maceration to turn infectious medical waste into a confetti-like
material which can go to a landfill.
They hope to start selling the units in the early part of this year. Malkin, who once investigated this company as part of a proposed merger, raves about them. "They are eliminating all the problems that these other
systems have. The waste that comes out of that machine is completely remediated. They have a way to separate the solids from the liquids and they direct the liquids into the sanitary sewer system. The process, because it's a steam process, is not
affected at all by blood. It does a great job." Of course, it doesn't have a track record yet.