The Phenomenon of Medical Waste Recycling in Indonesia: Contact Time and Chlorine Dose as a Disinfectant with the Bio-Indicator Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus

Efforts that have been done to manage the Hazardous and Toxic waste into non-Hazardous and Toxic waste are done by emptying, shredding, washing, and rinsing at least 3 times and disinfecting using chlorine. This is in accordance with the Indonesian Regulation of Ministry of Health No. 27 of 2017, which has stated that surface cleaning is permitted to use 0.05% chlorine during the process. Furthermore, in the Indonesian Regulation of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry No.56 of 2015, the chemical disinfection process is permitted to use an additional 3–6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). However, there are still differences in dosage and it has not been mentioned regarding the immersion period during the disinfection process on both of the regulations. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in contact time and the dose of chlorine as a disinfectant on the number of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus in the medical waste recycling process. The research design used in this study was a Randomized Factorial Design with experimental research type. A total of 104 recyclable medical waste samples were taken, using 3 treatments and 6 repetitions. The average temperature of the chlorine solution at the contact time of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes was 24.34 °C; 24,53 °C; and 24,54 °C respectively, while the average pH of the chlorine solution at the contact time of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes was 8.344; 8,375; and 8,461 respectively. The results showed that there was no difference in the duration of contact and the dose of chlorine as a disinfectant in the medical waste recycling process with a p-value of 0.377. The percentage reduction in the number of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus before and after treatment was 99.99% based on 4 positive controls. The findings in this study were the duration of contact time and the effective dose used in the recycling process of medical waste, which was at a dosage of 0.03% with 45 minutes of contact time. The government needs to conduct a re-assessment regarding the recommended ideal dosage in the surface disinfection process so that it would not cause a potential risk to humans or the environment.