Medwaste Rules Beyond the Clean Air Act

Alice P. Jacobsohn

In recent financial reports, some analysts have begun to take another look at the medical waste business. They are pointing to "signs of revitalization" as a result of new federal regulations on hospital, medical and infectious waste incinerators, which are driving the alternative technology and off-site disposal market. These reports correctly state that the medwaste business is still in its infancy, but they fail to explain regulatory activity beyond the Clean Air Act and the other federal agencies eyeing the medwaste business. While these activities may not drive the market, they do have the potential to weed out the "infants."