The treatment in the ISS requires that different kinds of waste shall be worked upon separately. This requires responsibility of all involved employees at the hospital, so that the segregation of waste is done at the stage of waste generation. The Medical Waste may be broadly classified into four types:
• Metallic waste and metal sharps
• Glass waste and glass sharps
• Plastics
• Easily biodegradable waste like paper, cloth, cotton and pathological waste.
These different types of waste are to be collected separately in bins which may be distinguished, preferably with colors.

The ISS performs both size reduction and waste disinfection in a single vessel. The ISS is a cylindrical vessel Sterilizer with one opening for loading and unloading. The vessel is fitted with a motor-driven shaft, with powerful shredding/crushing blade arms which can rotate in two directions inside the vessel to reduce the size and volume of the waste. The vessel is pre-heated by an external coil (which functions as a steam jacket). The steam is internally produced by a steam generator. The blades operate for about 10-15 minutes, thus the waste in the vessel is not only fragmented but is also evenly sterilized by steam. After sterilization, the liquid components of the waste are steamed out of the vessel, re-condensed and drained to a municipal sewer. The remaining fragmented waste is dehydrated and unloaded into bins to be taken for disposal as solid waste or can be recycled.

After treated in the ISS, the waste is rendered fragmented, non toxic and largely solid and dry. It is now safe to dispose it at the regular municipal waste. The waste achieves a level of 8 log 10 disinfection. As the waste is dehydrated there is no risk of contaminated waste water. The recommended practice to dispose the waste is to recycle it.