This document discusses health care waste management. It aims to provide an overview of different categories of health care waste, inform about proper waste segregation and disposal, and raise awareness of environmental issues. The categories include general, infectious, pathological, sharps, pharmaceutical, genotoxic, heavy metal, pressurized, and radioactive waste. Guidelines are provided on segregation by color coding, collection, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of each waste type. Proper management can help control diseases and protect workers, communities and the environment.

1. HEALTH CARE WASTE
MANAGEMENT
OBJECTIVES:
1. To provide an overview of the different categories of health
care waste
2. To inform healthcare workers of the proper waste segregation,
collection, disposal, and transport of healthcare waste
3. To develop awareness of environmental issues relating to
health care waste

2. Includes all waste
generated by health
care establishments,
research facilities,
& laboratories

3.  General waste
 Infectious waste
 Pathological waste
 Sharps
 Pharmaceutical waste
 Genotoxic waste
 Waste with high content of heavy
metal
 Pressurized container
 Radioactive waste

4. GENERAL WASTE
• Comparable to
domestic waste
• Does not pose special
handling problems or
hazards to human
health or to the
environment
• Mostly from
administrative &
housekeeping
functions of health
care establishments,
e.g., office paper, food
waste

5. INFECTIOUS
WASTE
• Contains pathogens
(bacteria, viruses,
parasites, or fungi) in
sufficient amount
• 10% to 15% of
hospital waste
COLLECTION/DISPOSAL
• Should be placed in
yellow leakproof
container
• Collected by

6. PATHOLOGICAL WASTE
Human tissues or fluids (e.g., body parts, blood
or other body fluids, fetuses)

7. SHARPS
• Needles, syringes scalpels,
saws, blades, broken glass,
infusion sets, knives, nails,
& other items that can
cause a cut or punctured
wounds
• Considered as highly
hazardous HCW
COLLECTION / DISPOSAL
• Sharps should be collected at
source of use in puncture-proof
containers (metal or high-density
plastic) with fitted covers.
• Container made of dense
cardboard may be a substitute.

8. PHARMACEUTIC
WASTE
Expired, unused,
spilt&contaminate
d pharmaceutical
products, drugs,
vaccines & sera
that are no longer
required & need to
be disposed of
appropriatelyCOLLECTION /DISPOSAL
Small amounts of chemical or large
quantities of obsolete or expired
pharmaceuticals stored in hospital
wards should be returned to the
pharmacy for disposal.

9. GENOTOXIC WASTE
• Cytostatic drugs, vomitus,
urine or feces from patients
treated with cytostatic drugs,
chemicals & radioactive
materials
• Highly hazardous & may have
mutagenic, teratogenic or
carcinogenic properties
COLLECTION / DISPOSAL
• Cytotoxic waste mostly
produced in major hospitals
or research facilities should be
collected in strong, leak-proof
containers labeled “cytotoxic
waste.”

10. WASTE WITH HIGH
CONTENT OF
HEAVY METAL
Batteries, broken thermometers,
blood pressure gauges
COLLECTION / DISPOSAL
• Waste with high content of heavy
metals (e.g., cadmium or mercury)
should be collected separately.
• Large quantities of chemical waste
should be packed in chemical-
resistant container and sent to
specialized treatment facilities.

11. PRESSURIZED CONTAINERS
Gas cylinders, gas
cartridges, aerosol
cans
COLLECTION/DISPOSAL
Aerosol containers may
be collected with general
HCW once they are
completely empty.
Aerosol containers
should not be burnt or
incinerated.

13. •All government hospitals, clinics,
laboratories and research offices shall
incorporate satisfactory segregation,
treatment, collection and disposal
system.
•All infectious and hazardous hospital
wastes shall be treated before storage,
collection and disposal.

14. •All hospitals and other related
institutions shall inform their staff
and personnel about the proper waste
segregation (color-coding) and storage,
collection and disposal of hospital
waste.

15. Color Coding Scheme Waste Categories
Black Non-infectious dry waste
Green Non-infectious wet waste
Yellow Infectious and pathological
waste
Yellow with Black band Chemical and heavy metal wastes
Orange Radioactive waste
Red Sharps and pressured containers

16. •Appropriate containers or bag holder
should be placed in all locations where
particular categories of waste may be
generated.

17. •Staff should never attempt to correct
errors of segregation by removing
items from a bag after disposal or by
placing one bag inside another bag of
different color.
•If general & hazardous wastes are
accidentally mixed, it should be
classified as hazardous HCW.

18. •Waste should be collected daily (or as
frequently as required) & transported
to the designated central storage site.
•No bags should be removed unless
they are labeled with their point of
production & contents.
•Bags or containers should be replaced
immediately with new ones of the
same type.

19. Collection, transportation, storage
(within the hospital)
19

20. Safe Transportation in a REGISTERED,
AUTHORIZED, BMW TRANSPORTERS
20

21. PURPOSE:To change the biological &
chemical characteristic of the waste to
minimize its potential to cause harm

22. •Prohibits the incineration of medical
wastes
•Promotes the use of state of the art,
environmentally sound & safe non-
burn technologies for handling,
treatment, thermal destruction,
utilization & disposal of sorted
unrecycled biomedical & hazardous
waste.

23. A. Thermal process
B. Chemical disinfection

29.  Help control nosocomial disease,
complementing the protection
effect of proper hand washing
 Reduce community exposure to
multi-drug resistant bacteria
 Dramatically reduce HIV/AIDS
sepsis and hepatitis transmission
from dirty needles & other
improperly cleaned/ disposed
medical items

30.  Control zoonoses (disease passed to
humans through insects, birds, rats
& other animals)
 Cut cycles of infection
 Easily and cost-effectively address
health care worker safety issues,
including reducing the risk of
needlestick injuries

31.  Prevent illegal repackaging & resale
of contaminated needles
 Avoid negative long-term health
effects, e.g., cancer from the
environmental release of toxic
substances such as dioxin, mercury
& others