How Should Regulations Help Health Care Organizations Manage Waste?

Levchenko, Ariel; Schweikart, Scott J.

doi:10.1001/amajethics.2022.959

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 30 publications

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“…For instance, in the United States of America (USA), the environmental Protection Agency regulated healthcare wastes under the Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA) from 1988-1991(EPA, 2022. Presently, mainly using the regulations designed by EPA, states now develop policies and laws to guide healthcare waste management with differences portrayed in the manner in which many states regulate and manage healthcare industry waste (Levchenko & Schweikart, 2022). Furthermore, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act intends to protect public health, animals and the environment from improperly managing hazardous waste (EPA, 2022).…”

Section: Regulations Policies and Strategies Developed To Combat Impr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthcare industry waste and public health: a systematic review

Husaini,

Bernardez,

Zetina

et al. 2023

AGJSR

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PurposeA direct correlation exists between waste disposal, disease spread and public health. This article systematically reviewed healthcare waste and its implication for public health. This review identified and described the associations and impact of waste disposal on public health.Design/methodology/approachThis paper systematically reviewed the literature on waste disposal and its implications for public health by searching Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Of a total of 1,583 studies, 59 articles were selected and reviewed.FindingsThe review revealed the spread of infectious diseases and environmental degradation as the most typical implications of improper waste disposal to public health. The impact of waste includes infectious diseases such as cholera, Hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, and bacteremia, and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife.Research limitations/implicationsInfectious diseases such as cholera, hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, bacteremia and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife are some of the public impacts of improper waste disposal.Originality/valueHealthcare industry waste is a significant waste that can harm the environment and public health if not properly collected, stored, treated, managed and disposed of. There is a need for knowledge and skills applicable to proper healthcare waste disposal and management. Policies must be developed to implement appropriate waste management to prevent public health threats.

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Section: Regulations Policies and Strategies Developed To Combat Impr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthcare industry waste and public health: a systematic review

Husaini,

Bernardez,

Zetina

et al. 2023

AGJSR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Who owns the waste created in orthopaedic surgery?

Bellaire,

Garcia

2024

Journal of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America

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Sustainable Hospital Waste Management Practices in the Western Province of Sri Lanka: Problems and Prospects

Fernando,

Rushan

2024

Adv Environ Eng Res

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Ensuring the sustainability of hospital waste management practices has become a burning issue. Due to the growing population coinciding with rapid urbanization and industrialization, practicing sustainable methods of medical waste management is an urgent requirement. Like other developing countries, Sri Lanka also faces various difficulties when dealing with high-risk hospital waste material, spreading diseases rapidly and making the environment unclean. Thus, moving towards sustainable hospital waste management has received urgent attention. The primary purpose of this study is to explore whether the existing hospital waste management practices are sustainable. Further, this study identifies weaknesses of the existing waste management practices and examines factors affecting Sustainable Hospital Waste Management (SHWM) in the Western province of Sri Lanka. Data were collected from 18 officers involved in waste management from 14 government hospitals in the western province. Both inductive and deductive thematic analyses were used to explore whether the hospital waste management practices are sustainable. The study revealed that most selected hospitals failed to achieve sustainability in waste management practices. Achieving sustainability of waste management practices has become a challenge to government hospitals due to financial constraints, limited facilities and infrastructure, lack of social support, and poor management and administration. Patient mindset and health capacity, positive attitudes, knowledge, awareness, and experience, training on hospital waste management, availability of basic infrastructure and resources, financial facilities for hospital waste management, availability of rules and regulations, and intra and inter-organizational supports significantly affect sustainable hospital waste management. Exploring the sustainability of waste management practices using empirical data related to Sri Lanka is an initial attempt in the sustainable hospital waste management literature. Finally, policy measures are suggested for sustainable hospital waste management in Sri Lanka.

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How Should Regulations Help Health Care Organizations Manage Waste?

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Healthcare industry waste and public health: a systematic review

Healthcare industry waste and public health: a systematic review

Who owns the waste created in orthopaedic surgery?

Sustainable Hospital Waste Management Practices in the Western Province of Sri Lanka: Problems and Prospects

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