Student from Žepče Surprises the World with a Patent for Medical Waste Management

Safe disposal of infectious medical waste is a problem facing the entire world, and its consequences became particularly evident during the coronavirus pandemic, when there was a significant increase in the amount of such waste globally.

The solution to this problem was found by an innovator from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Katarina Ponjavić, who received international patent protection for a smart device and process for the safe management of infectious medical waste.

This is a patent that received the highest marks in terms of patentability conditions, as all patent claims were declared new, inventive, and industrially applicable. This is a rarity, not only in BiH and the region but also on a global level.

The advantages of this device for which Ponjavić received the patent are its dimensions (it is smaller compared to others on the market), it processes the generated waste faster, it serves as a database for the amount of infectious medical waste, and it will eliminate a significant portion of existing economic costs (waste sorting, storage, transport, and disposal).

The young innovator from Žepče is a sixth-year student at the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Sarajevo.

- I have just received confirmation from the European Patent Office in Munich that I have an international patent. It is a smart device for managing infectious medical waste. It is a device that should solve all problems in this field related to the management of infectious medical waste - said Ponjavić.

She reminded that the World Health Organization (WHO) points to the problem of managing this type of waste, which shows how necessary it is not only for the health of humanity and the general population but also for environmental protection.

- The ideal in managing infectious medical waste is that such waste is managed at the point of origin and immediately converted into municipal inert waste - waste that is not harmful, which is disinfected and can be disposed of in ordinary municipal containers - said Ponjavić.

In addition, she stated that there are no precise data on the quantities of infectious medical waste in BiH.

In the future, she intends to work on expanding this project, i.e., a facility that will serve for the recycling of newly generated sterile, shredded, municipal waste, primarily plastic, as infectious medical waste is mostly plastic, in order to obtain new raw materials.

She emphasized that the international patent she received means that no one in the world can produce this device or a similar device without her permission, which means that potential investors would have a monopoly on the market.