Hospital waste management

Hospital waste include all waste arising from healthcare establishments.
Large hospital’s generate 2.0 kg of waste, per bed per day. Of this, 0.5 kg can be categorized as biomedical risk waste.
Improper disposal practices results in reuse of discarded
syringes, IV tubes, blood bags and other equipment which
is not 0designed for either sterilization or reuse.
If hospital waste is not properly managed and disposed of,
it can result in injury by contaminated sharps and infection
with Hepatitis B, C, and
Hospital waste can be broadly be defined into 2 categories- risk & non risk waste.
Risk waste: Infectious, Pathological, Sharps, Pharmaceutical, Chemical & radioactive waste
Non- risk waste: Paper, Packaging, food waste
Methods:
Treatment:
• Incineration
• Chemical Disinfection
• Autoclaving
• Encapsulation
• Microwave irradiation etc.,
Final Disposal
• Landfill
• Burying inside Premises
• Discharge into Sewer etc.,
Waste not to be Incinerated
• Pressurized gas containers
• Large amounts of reactive chemical waste
• Radioactive waste
• Silver salts or radiographic waste
• Halogenated plastics (e.g. PVC)
• Mercury or cadmium
• Ampoules of heavy metals