"state of the art'' style by the end of next year.

The process, known as bio-oxidising, will cost $1 million.

And the hospital will be able to use its waste energy to heat the building's boiler, water and laundry.

The Development Applications Board approved an application on Thursday by the Bermuda Hospitals Board to replace its incinerator with a bio-oxidiser.

Director of Facilities Management Mr. Neil Crane said the bio-oxidiser was "quite a technology'', which used electricity and extremely high temperatures in conjunction with micro-processor control.

He said the equipment consisted of two chambers which could process 100 pounds of waste per hour.

The solid waste -- syringes, bandages, body parts, blood and tissue -- enter the first chamber and are broken down by high heat. The gases which are emitted then enter the second chamber where they are exposed to even higher temperatures.

Only five percent of the original waste which entered the machine is left behind as ash and only carbon dioxide and water are emitted.

The bio-oxidiser will replace the hospital's current incinerator which Mr.

Crane said would not meet future environmental standards, had no pollution control and was too expensive to operate.

HOSPITAL HOS