Stericycle Inc.
Conroe, Texas

Company Profile

Stericycle, Inc. is a regulated medical waste management company in North America, serving over 237,000 customers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Company's network includes 33 treatment/collection centers and 87 additional transfer and collection sites. The Company uses this network to provide medical waste collection, transportation and treatment and related consulting, training and education services and products. The Company's treatment technologies include its proprietary electro-thermal deactivation system, as well as traditional methods such as autoclaving and incineration. The Company's services and operations are comprised of collection, transportation, treatment, disposal and recycling, together with related training and education programs, consulting services and product sales. With its recent acquisition of the medical waste business of Browning Ferris Industries, Stericycle is the only company offering medical waste services nationally. Stericycle operates collection routes that can service the entire U.S. market.

Site Profile

The facility accepts Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) and APHIS (Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service) waste. Regulated medical waste is generally defined as any waste that can cause an infectious disease or that reasonably can be suspected of harboring human pathogenic organisms. It is also known as red bag waste, infectious waste, potentially infectious waste, biomedical waste, and biohazardous waste. Regulated medical waste includes single-use disposable items such as needles, syringes, gloves, and laboratory, surgical, emergency room and other supplies which have been in contact with blood, blood products, bodily fluids, cultures or stocks of infectious agents.

Stericycle’s services include regulated medical waste collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, reduction, together with related training and education programs, consulting services and product sales. This facility accepts waste from Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi, and Mobile.

The treatment facility consist of two autoclaves. Located on 8.0 acres (5.4 developed) in Conroe, Texas, the site is a permitted Type V processing facility authorized to accept up to 96 tons of waste per day. Incoming waste is weighted, scanned for radiation, placed in a rail car, charged into a autoclave, subjected to steam under pressure, cooled, shredded and sent to a landfill for final disposal. The facility layout includes one building, divided into a processing floor and office space. No above or below ground storage tanks are on the site. One pre-treatment area for wastewater consists of 1-20,000 gallon holing tank and 2-5,000 batch treatment tanks. The facility is completely fenced with key pad entry and pressure plate exits.

Waste Management Methods

This facility processes regulated medical waste (except for pathological and chemotherapeutic wastes) and APHIS waste. The boxed waste (either in cardboard boxes or reusable containers) is unloaded from trailers, is scanned for radiation, weighed, loaded into autoclave bins, treated, shredded, taken to the landfill (treated as solid waste post-treatment). Treatment consists of cooking for 30 minutes at 93 psi/329 degrees F for RMW and 45 minutes at 82 psi/ 250 degrees F for APHIS waste.

Treatment Validation

The autoclave units are tested weekly to validate the treatment's effectiveness. Bio-indicator strips (which have been inoculated with bacteria) are placed in a metal rod which is inserted into a box of waste. After the autoclave cycle is complete, the strips are incubated and bacterial growth is monitored and compared to a control (an untreated strip). The results are noted in log books.

Reusable Tubs

A system of reusable medical waste boxes is also available for customers. Plastic tubs are filled with medical waste by the generator. The tubs are labeled and transported to the facility. E:mployees manually remove identification labels from the tub lids as the tubs enter the loading dock. The labels are placed on top of the waste and scanned by the scanner operator. At the same time, the tub is weighed and scanned for radiation. The small 28 gallon tubs are manually emptied and placed on a conveyor belt which leads the tubs into a washer/dryer unit. These tubs are then placed on the floor to dry more completely before they are nested and delivered back to the generator. The large 130 gallon plastic tubs are emptied mechanically and washed manually.

Wastewater Treatment

Process water is treated on-site by chemical treatment and filter press. The pre-treatment area for wastewater consists of 1-20,000 gallon holing tank and 2-5,000 batch treatment tanks. Treated wastewater is discharged to the City of Conroe POTW. Solids from the filter press are landfilled.

Authorized Waste

The facility can accept APHIS waste and RMW waste for treatment. Pharmaceutical, chemotherapeutic and/or anti-neoplastic waste can be stored before shipment to the Stericycle facilities in Reserve, Louisiana.

Prohibited Waste

Prohibited wastes include pharmaceuticals and hazardous materials, pathological and chemotherapeutic wastes.