Systems, components, and methods for sterilizing medical waste

A non-transitory machine-readable medium for use with a biomedical waste treatment system including a shredder and a roll-off container in fluid communication with an ozone generator, the medium storing:

• a first set of instructions for establishing biomedical waste sterilization conditions within the roll-off container, the conditions predetermined to allow for sterilization of contents of the roll-off container during a predetermined treatment time period;
• a second set of instructions for starting measurement of elapsed treatment time;
• and
• a third set of instructions for restarting the measurement of elapsed treatment time in response to a change in an operating condition of the shredder, wherein the third set of instructions is responsive to information indicating a decrease in electric current drawn by the shredder.

A method of sterilizing or disinfecting biomedical waste, the method comprising:

• starting a treatment time measurement;
• while measuring the treatment time, exposing a first portion of shredded biomedical waste in a container to an ozone-enriched atmosphere having a sufficient ozone level to sterilize or disinfect the shredded biomedical after a predetermined time of exposure;
• and
• restarting the treatment time measurement in response to a change in an operating condition of a shredder, wherein restarting the treatment time measurement occurs in response to sensing a decrease in electric current drawn by the shredder.

A method of processing biomedical waste, comprising

• operating a shredder to produce first shredded biomedical waste;
• passing the first shredded biomedical waste into a container, with the container containing an ozone-enriched atmosphere;
• in response to determining that the shredder has a decreased shredding load, starting a treatment timer that is configured to measure a predetermined treatment time period;
• operating the shredder to produce additional shredded biomedical waste;
• passing the additional shredded biomedical waste into the container containing the first shredded biomedical waste and the ozone-enriched atmosphere;
• and
• in response to determining that the shredder has a decreased shredding load after production of the additional shredded biomedical waste, restarting the treatment timer.