A Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) is a set up where biomedical waste, generated from a number of healthcare units, is imparted necessary treatment to reduce adverse effects that this waste may pose. The treated waste may finally be sent for disposal in a landfill or for recycling purposes. Installation of individual treatment facilities by small healthcare units requires comparatively high capital investment. In addition, it requires separate manpower and infrastructure development for proper operation and maintenance of treatment systems. The concept of CBWTF not only addresses such problems but also prevents proliferation of treatment equipment in a city. In turn it reduces the monitoring pressure on regulatory agencies. By running the treatment equipment at CBWTF to its full capacity, the cost of treatment of per kilogram gets significantly reduced. Its considerable advantages have made CBWTF popular and proven concept in many developed countries.
CBWTF as an option has also been legally introduced in India. The Bio-medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998, gives an option to the bio-medical waste generator that such waste can also be treated at the common bio-medical waste treatment facility. The Second Amendment of the Rules in June, 2000, further eased the bottleneck in upbringing the CBWTF by making Local Authority responsible for providing suitable site within its jurisdiction. The concept of CBWTF is also being widely accepted in India among the healthcare units, medical associations and entrepreneurs.
In order to set up a CBWTF to its maximum perfection, care shall be taken in choosing the right technology, development of CBWTF area, proper designing of transportation system to achieve optimum results etc. These key features of CBWTF have been addressed in the following sections and will form the guidelines for the establishment of CBWTFs throughout the country.