Technology and application of harmless co-incineration of medical waste and domestic waste

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has greatly raised the pressure on global medical waste disposal. Safe and efficient disposal of medical waste has become a key issue in urban environmental management. Traditional incineration has risks of dioxin emissions and high energy consumption. Co-combustion technology has difficulties in pollutant control and process adaptability. Based on the circular economy concept, this study puts forward a technical route for collaborative optimization of park facilities. Taking Beijing Anding Circular Economy Park as an example - the largest of its kind in China with a daily medical waste treatment capacity of 80 t/d - an integrated system of "high-temperature steam sterilization (≥134 ℃/45 min, inactivation rate > 99.99%) - full-process automation - co-combustion with municipal solid waste" is built. Practical operation results show that this technology achieves 100% harmless treatment of medical waste. The emission concentration of dioxins is ≤ 0.1 ng TEQ/m³, which is superior to national standards and EU standards. After collaborative treatment, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of wastewater is ≤ 21 mg/L, and all wastewater is reused. The comprehensive utilization rate of slag is > 90%, and the construction and operation costs are greatly reduced. This study verifies the feasibility of co-combustion in both environmental safety and resource efficiency. It provides a promotable technical paradigm for the construction of "zero-waste cities".