The tandem microwave system provides a unique means for treating both the primary and secondary medical waste, and provides a system that is compact and can be made portable. It has been used successfully, on a laboratory scale, for destruction of a variety of mixed simulated infectious medical wastes, including plastics, clothing, sharps and other metal components, etc. There are approximately 250 million tires discarded annually in the U.S. and there already exists well over 3 billion used tires currently being stockpiled. This can result in a variety of problems along with important health and environmental concerns. For example, tires in landfills do not biodegrade readily and are buoyant, which can cause them to rise to the surface at landfills and breach landfill covers.
Stockpiled tires can also catch fire easily as well as result in soil, water and air pollution.
In addition, they can also become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and vermin. This also produces activated surfaces that when combined with new rubber, yields a composite with excellent properties. The products produced were either ashes or vitrified materials, depending on the application. OH, and published, in Environmental Issues and Waste Management Technologies in the Ceramic and Nuclear Industries IV , J.C. Marra and G.T. Chandler, eds., Vol. S.J. Oda and R. Silberglitt, eds., Vol.