in constant communication with the interior of the melting chamber 26 beneath the bottom wall 46 is a separate compartment or volute 58 including a blower 60 the blower 60 is disposed to force air through an opening 62 fig1 into compartment 40 from which it will flow into the melting chamber 26 through port 56 from melting chamber 26 this air is then drawn back to the blower 60 through port 54 compartment 38 and opening 64 within the melting compartment are placed a number of plastic articles 66 to be melted and sterilized in accordance with this invention so that proper disposal of the melted articles can be eventually achieved these plastic articles are deposited within an open foil bag or container 68 into which the articles may be dropped through a chute or other guide device 70 which is optionally mounted at the top of the chamber beneath the lid 22 the chute 70 is angled downwardly as shown past the inlet port 56 and thus serves not only to prevent spillage into the chamber outside the container 68 but also to deflect air entering through the port 56 downwardly into the container in order to melt the plastic materials in the container it is necessary that the incoming air be heated to at least about 450 u00b0 f therefore an electrical heating element 71 is located in the input air circulation compartment 40 so that the air forced through the compartment 40 into the container 68 by the blower will be heated to.