Cebuano inventor launches hospital wastes shredder

Cebuano Edward Dampor, who penned the first Filipino-authored book on welding, has once again proved Filipino ingenuity through his latest invention, a shredding machine that would help hospitals properly dispose its infectious solid wastes.

Dampor, the owner of Brilliant Metal Craft and Machine Design, launched his latest invention recently during the National Hospital Week.

Called the Sharp Infectious Shredding Machine, it is designed to shred sharp infectious wastes of hospitals and health centers into pebble-sized pieces.

He mentioned that it has been known that some people are collecting used syringes from hospitals and health centers, and would later sell these after washing. These are repacked and are sold to small pharmacies.

"The machine will help stop the illegal practices of unscrupulous persons," Dampor said. With this machine, which Dampor described as the first in the world, these syringes could no longer be recycled.

However, the by-product of the machine or the shredded sharp infectious materials, could be used as raw materials for hollow-blocks, as these are also treated with chemicals and will pass through ultraviolet rays to kill microorganisms, he said.

Officials from the government and private sectors like Doctor Tiburcio Macias, president of the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA), together with Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-7) regional director Alan Aranguez, Department of Science and Technology (DOS-7) regional director Rene Burt Llanto and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) national action officer for marketing Silvano Maranga encouraged him to research on and invent the machine, as this is one of the needs of the hospitals.

Dampor said his company aims to manufacture some 1,000 units of this machine this year to be distributed across the country, with the help of Tesda and PHA.

With shredding capacity of one kilogram per minute, the machine costs around P875,000, he said.

Dampor, a product of Tesda, is also the winner of the regional award of President Ramon Magsaysay last year, in the self-employed category.

Meanwhile, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) earlier warned that inventions like Dampor's creation must immediately be registered in the IPO, otherwise other inventors with the same concept will be recognized.

IPO director general Adrian Cristobal Jr., earlier urged Cebuano inventors, designers, to immediately register their works with the IPO in order to protect their creations from the copycats.