Port Taranaki commercial head Ross Dingle said he had been happy to be able to help the team with its innovative project.
“As a border-facing organisation at the frontline of COVID-19, Port Taranaki has had a lot of its own staff and operators within the port utilising PPE, and actually considerable quantities of PPE. So it’s really great to have a project like this which allows that PPE to be recycled, obviously that has really positive impacts on the environment and ensures that PPE is available for those who need it. We’re absolutely thrilled that this project been a success.”
Anderson said it was paramount it found ways to mitigate the ever-growing amount of medical waste that went to landfills, or was polluting lands, rivers, and seas.
And as the project had evolved, it found three potential outputs for the unit.
“One was to disinfect PPE for potential reuse and the event of shortages during the pandemic. Two, we could look at disinfecting PPE for safe recycling of the product, and three, we’re looking at hydrothermal processes using waste valorization, basically busting PPE waste into water and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill, but also polluting our oceans and seas.”
The next step was to transfer the unit to the University of Auckland faculty of engineering,
Anderson said they managed to achieve a lot in the past 18 months, but there were still questions that needed to be answered.
“Healthcare and other frontline worker acceptability is a key consideration for us with any disinfection solution of PPE and we are committed to prioritising their voice in the wider project.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to engage some partners to look at all of the logistics of potential scale and implementation for this unit wherever it’s needed.”
The project received $1.3 million in funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment through the COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund, and a $46,000 grant from the Medical Assurance Society Foundation.
RNZ
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