Abstract: A sanitary waste disposal unit (1) including a scalable destruction chamber (11), a vacuum pump (23), a source of heat (15) and means (29) for the controlled introduction of air into the chamber (11). In use the waste is introduced on the chamber (11) which is then evacuated to remove substantially all the oxygen, and heated to sterilize the waste material to approximately 300-500° C. The chamber (11) is then cooled to approximately 150° C., a temperature sufficiently high enough to allow combustion of the waste material, which has been partially carbonized. A limited quantity of air is introduced into the chamber allowing combustion of the waste material and the combustion products are removed from the chamber.