The challenge of reconverting dangerous hospital waste into normal waste has been won by Econos Tecnologie Ambientali (Econos Environmental Technology ), taken over in 2003 by the Guerrato group of Treviso and transformed into an innovative, high-level business.

Econos is practically the only company in the world to produce a machine that transforms hospital waste at risk into normal waste, with a patent on completely Italian-designed technology that combines saturated steam with microwave temperatures that almost reach 140 degrees. In practice, syringes and other infected materials are first crushed, then sterilized and then rendered inert. With sterilization, hazardous waste is rendered harmless, unrecognizable and free of any form of contamination. After sterilization, the waste is deposited before being transported and used in total safety as substitute fuel. Among others, this innovative treatment makes it possible to cut costs by 30% compared with incineration, giving the system a significant economic benefit, without counting the enormous environmental benefits. In fact, concern for the environment has led to the development of a plant that reduces the risk of contamination by eliminating the infectious potential of waste at source. The working cycle of the system does not allow waste to come into contact with the external environment, and the air extracted from the grinding chamber, which potentially carries the risk of infection, is filtered through an absolute HEPA filter before being released into the external environment.

The Guerrato group is a consolidated business reality that entered the Italian market in 1935 and today boasts a significant international presence in the areas of general contracting, project financing, facility management, integrated planning, execution of civil works and technological and specialised installations, and research and development into alternative energy. With operations centres on three continents, Guerrato has a total of over one hundred project managers, forty project engineer and a 1,200-strong workforce directly employed in national and overseas sites. Starting from the realization and design of installations, its traditional segment of activities, Guerrato has faced the competitive challenges of the last fifty years, making strategic investments in internal technical and production management and research and development of tools and advanced technologies for energy saving and renewable resources, integrated services and facility management, and has gradually acquired widespread consensus and a substantial market share.

From this, in 2003, the takeover and re-launching of Econos Tecnologie Ambientali was born and with it the subsequent development of an innovative hospital waste disposal system that is unique in the world.