The analysts forecast the global medical waste management market to grow at a CAGR of 5.35% over the period 2014-2019.
This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global medical waste management market for the period 2015-2019. The market can be divided into two segments based on medical waste generation sources: large quantity generators and small quantity generators. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the two waste generation sources.
Reductions in federal reimbursements have helped healthcare facilities to optimize the sustainability of their operations and improve cost-cutting strategies. Hospitals are now assessing their departments and developing effective plans for the efficient utilization of water and energy and for the organized management of wastes. For instance, Spectrum Health launched a medical device reprocessing platform and implemented a reusable sharps container program in 2008, which helped it save about $1 million in waste management costs. The conversion of biogas (produced from waste) to electricity via the waste treatment process has not only helped in the efficient utilization of waste but it has also made healthcare facilities energy independent.
According to the report, medical consumables – catheters, syringes, saline needles, some types of laboratory stirrer, and reagents – are used in large quantities as ancillary devices in surgeries and laboratory research for sample analyses. Most medical and laboratory equipment suppliers, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Illumina, Roche Diagnostics, and Alere, invest extensively in the development of consumables, as these products generate higher return on investment than capital equipment. In addition, the National Institutes of Health provides quarterly reimbursements on the R&D of consumables. Medical waste handling companies make higher gross margins from the management of consumables, as they are dumped in bulk quantities. This has also shifted the sales mix – that is, from instruments to consumables – for medical equipment suppliers.