Portuguese company wins EUREKA Innovation Award 2013

Ambimed, a Portuguese company dedicated to integrated hospital waste management, is one of the partners in the project that won this year's EUREKA Innovation Award. Led by Spanish company Athisa, the OMIM project has developed a clean medical waste treatment system with significant advantages over conventional incineration and autoclaving systems, which consume large amounts of fossil fuels. The MIMO system combines mechanical (grinding and shredding) and chemical (oxidation and stabilization) treatments to treat three types of medical waste: infectious waste (such as blood, syringes, and scalpels), cancer treatment waste, and other pharmaceutical waste (such as expired drugs). The system costs 75% less to build than an incineration plant, has half the operating costs, and processes four times more toxic waste per hour than an incinerator. The first plant is being built in Casablanca, Morocco, with interest already shown by the Turkish authorities and plans to expand to Vietnam and Algeria in the near future.

EUREKA is a platform for companies engaged in R&D, comprising 39 countries. It promotes international, market-oriented research and innovation by providing support to companies, universities, and research centers. In Portugal, FCT has taken over participation in the platform, previously the responsibility of AdI.