The idea started as a joke.
Before starting his academic career at the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) School of Technology, chemical engineer Ramer Bautista was working at a waste treatment facility. At the time, hospitals across the country were already grappling with the serious — and very expensive — problem of how to dispose of their waste. Many began moving away from incineration due to the hazardous fumes it produced. However, there was no easy alternative, with other options proving complex, costly, and constrained.
So he and a colleague asked a question, half in jest: Why not just fry it?
It was a throwaway line. But in a country where infectious hospital waste still travels hundreds of kilometers for treatment — or worse, ends up in poorly controlled dumps — the question lingered. Eventually, it became the basis for a technology that is now quietly making its way into Philippine hospitals.
When he returned to UP as a part-time Master of Science student in 2008, that insight became the backbone of his thesis. His work, which explored the use of vegetable oil to treat hazardous waste through thermal immersion, was later published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Management. Soon, funding from the Department of Science and Technology–Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) and other sources helped the technology mature toward commercial readiness.
Bautista could not see it then, enamored as he was during his PhD with more advanced chemical waste management techniques. But the simple, almost intuitive idea he once joked about would grow into a working technology — and a company, FILARB Waste Management Services — helping hospitals in the Visayas save both money and lives by keeping infectious and pathological waste contained, treated, and far from the communities they could harm.
The hidden threat of hospital waste
To see why this innovation matters, it is important to distinguish hazardous hospital waste from the general waste collected weekly by local barangays. “What we specifically refer to here,” Bautista said, “are infectious and pathological waste.”
These two waste types are segregated and treated differently due to the dangers they pose. Hospitals are careful not to mix everyday waste with more hazardous materials, since doing so would unnecessarily increase the volume of waste requiring special handling.
Infectious and pathological wastes require strict segregation, handling, and treatment because of their potential to spread disease. Infectious waste includes materials exposed to bodily fluids or microorganisms—used syringes, blood-soaked bandages, diapers from surgical procedures, and tubing from transfusions.
Pathological waste refers to those routinely generated in hospitals: human or animal tissues, such as organs, skin, or even placentas. Without proper handling and disinfection, these materials pose risks not only to healthcare workers and waste handlers, but also to surrounding communities, particularly when waste systems fail or remain incomplete.
The problem is that not all dump sites are equipped to deal with these waste types without treatment. Many, Bautista noted, do not even have a physical barrier separating general waste from hazardous materials, posing a serious risk of contamination. “If we see dogs or children carrying diapers from there, we don’t know if those are from babies or surgery patients. If this gets into the community, it might lead to widespread infection.”
A New Kind of Fire
To address this gap, Bautista’s team turned to a deceptively simple process: thermal treatment using common vegetable oil.
Instead of relying on pressurized systems like autoclaves — which require thick-walled vessels and long processing times — FILARB’s oil-based thermal disinfection immerses infectious waste in heated oil after shredding, reaching temperatures that can exceed those used in steam-based systems. In optimized conditions, the process can treat waste in as little as five minutes at around 140°C, with higher operating temperatures of 170 to 200°C used in actual systems for faster and more consistent results.
After immersion, the waste is separated from the oil — either through centrifugal motion or mechanical pressing — allowing the oil to be reused while leaving behind compacted material that is easier to handle and dispose of.
The effectiveness of the system comes from two forces working together: heat and drying. High temperatures damage microbial cells, including heat-resistant organisms used as test models. At the same time, the process rapidly removes moisture from the waste—reducing water content by as much as 70 percent. Without water, microorganisms cannot grow or recover.
The system does not simply eliminate pathogens — it removes the conditions that allow them to return.
Compared to conventional systems such as autoclaves and microwave treatment, the technology is simpler and more flexible. Existing methods often require additional steps and are difficult to scale for smaller hospitals. Oil-based treatment, by contrast, can handle mixed waste while reducing its volume and making it easier to manage. Just as importantly, it can be deployed on-site — cutting the need to transport hazardous waste over long distances, and reducing both cost and risk in the process.
Those Who Truly Benefit
For Bautista, the promise of the technology lies not just in how it works, but in what it changes on the ground. Compared to conventional systems that can cost as much as ₱18 to ₱20 million for a single hospital, oil-based units can be built for a fraction of that — around ₱5 million — making it possible for the same budget to serve multiple facilities instead of just one. This is especially significant for provincial and district hospitals, particularly in regions far from the capital, which rely on limited government funding.
Operating costs are also lower, even by a few pesos per kilogram, which quickly adds up for hospitals processing hundreds of kilograms of waste each day. However, the biggest savings come from eliminating the need to transport hazardous waste across regions—a practice that can cost ₱40 to ₱70 per kilogram and remains necessary in many parts of the country where treatment facilities are concentrated in Metro Manila.
Ironically, while many technologies struggle to scale up, systems such as autoclaves and microwave treatment face the opposite problem: they are difficult to scale down. This creates a mismatch for smaller hospitals. “For a district hospital generating just 100 kilograms of waste a day, most existing systems are simply too large—starting at 300 to 500 kilograms, even up to a ton in capacity.”
These savings have immediate implications. For hospitals, reduced waste management costs can be redirected toward patient care and essential services. For smaller facilities, the ability to install a scaled-down, on-site system makes regulatory compliance more attainable. And for communities, the impact is just as critical. Treating waste at the source reduces the risk of exposure across the entire disposal chain, where gaps in infrastructure can allow infectious materials to seep into the environment.
As Bautista pointed out, in places where waste ends up in poorly controlled dump sites, the chances of infection are a virtual dice roll. Materials can be carried off by the elements or scavengers, blurring the line between hospital waste and everyday refuse. By treating these materials before they leave hospital grounds, the technology does more than reduce costs—it helps ensure that what is meant to be contained remains contained, and communities are spared from risks they were never meant to bear.
Meet the innovators behind FILARB and other emerging technologies at Inoblasyon: The UP Innovation Summit 2026, happening May 5–6 at the SMX Convention Center Aura, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Stay updated and register for the summit by following their Facebook page at facebook.com/Inoblasyon.UPInnovationSummit.
Illustration by Rod Villafuerte, Jr.
