A medical waste processing company that is expanding into Nesquehoning will soon be up and running.

Sharps Compliance Inc., a company based out of Houston, Texas, is gearing up for the opening its new northeast facility at 600 Industrial Road.David Tusa, chief executive officer and president of Sharps Compliance, said that the company is “really excited to be part of the community.”“We’re living up to our commitment when we came to Nesquehoning,” he said via telephone interview Monday evening, noting that Sharps has spent almost $2 million with primarily local contractors to get the new site ready for the opening.To start, Tusa said, Sharps has hired four or five people to run the operations and will look at hiring more as they move forward.He said that Sharps is looking forward to becoming part of the Nesquehoning and Carbon County communities and plans to give back to the area.The Nesquehoning facility, located in a 40,000-square-foot shell building just outside the Hauto Valley Estates, will be accepting the Sharps red medical waste containers and bags, which contain needles, empty vials, glass slides, pipettes, syringes, sharp instruments, gowns, gloves, drapes, IV tubing and blood-saturated materials; as well as pharmaceutical items like outdated pills and antibiotics; and trace chemotherapy items like empty vials, nonhazardous drugs, syringes and needles, as well as gowns, gloves, masks, IV tubing and bags.These items would come either via the United States Postal Service or through transport box trucks from small to medium health providers such as doctors, dentists and veterinarian offices; nursing homes and assisted living facilities, local pharmacies and homes of patients that use needles for medical treatment.A maximum of 50 truck trips would be made during operating hours.Items will then be treated at the facility, still in the sealed containers or double bags they were received in, using an autoclave, which uses heat, steam and pressure to disinfect the items.The disinfected material is then ground up to create “confetti,” and disposed of in an approved landfill.Tusa said that company has recently acquired three companies in the northeast and is currently looking at acquiring additional companies, which will all be serviced out of the Nesquehoning plant.A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of the building will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 5 at the facility.Sharps has been working with the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation to expand its operations into Nesquehoning since last September.“It is a pleasure working with Mr. Tusa and the team from Sharps and we are excited to support their efforts to see new job creation and industry in Carbon County,” Marlyn Kissner, executive vice president of CCEDC, said. “Mr. Tusa and the team are great partners demonstrating the importance of hiring local contractors and utilizing a number of small businesses in the area and giving back to the community.”