THE University of the Philippines Visayas signed a partnership agreement with The Medical City Iloilo for the commercialization of its oil-based thermal disinfection technology to treat infectious and pathological healthcare waste.

A memorandum of agreement was signed last week by key officials of the two parties.

Under the agreement, TMCI will house the fabricated equipment that applies the said technology and utilize it in the pretreatment of their generated infectious and pathological wastes.

UPV said the agreement is another step taken by the School of Technology to bridge the industry and the academe through research and development collaborations, UPV added.

The project aims to achieve a cheaper treatment alternative “that is equally or even more effective than the available technologies” amid the sudden increase in the amount of hospital waste due to Covid19.

The project was funded by the Department of Science and Technology.

“With the financial limitations of the healthcare facilities and lack of available treatment facilities especially in Western Visayas, particularly in Iloilo, the OBTDT Project aims to offer an alternative treatment option for infectious and pathological waste which provides lower equipment and operational costs, as well as, simpler and safer operational conditions,” UPV said.

“This technology uses vegetable oil as its treatment medium operating at 170 to 200°C,” it added.