Profile of highly infected wastes generated by hospitals: A case in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Abstract

Healthcare wastes are generated in facilities whose activities are related to human or animal healthcare. Wastes with high infectious potential risk to human health and the environment must be managed carefully, from generation to its final disposal. However, there is an absence of consolidated data addressing the healthcare waste qualitative classification generated by hospitals of a large city. Therefore, the present study aims to characterise qualitatively the high infectious waste generated by hospitals from Belo Horizonte city, Brazil, whose Health Services Waste Management Plan were approved and certificated by the municipal cleansing autarchy. Differences in the types of infectious wastes generated in maternity hospitals were identified ( p 0.034), when compared with general ( p 0.189), low ( p 0.549) and high complexity ( p 0.619), which can be explained owing to the extended hospital activities. This information suggests a similar profile of the qualitative generation of infectious wastes by hospital categories, as expected. The largest generation and diversity of high-infected wastes are associated with a greater variety of activities provided. The segregation can be considered as the main step in healthcare waste management, therefore, it is concluded that the correct classification leads to a better understanding of all those involved in the healthcare waste management.

Healthcare waste management as a tool for human health protection: a mini review

“…It is possible to notice that some of the risks are associated with previous stages of management, principally the segregation stage. It consists of the waste separation into a determinate classification, usually presented by a healthcare regulatory organization, ideally performed at the time and place of waste generation (Costa et al, 2019;Nazari et al, 2000). The incorrect segregation of HCW is directly linked to the lack of training and awareness on the part of the staff of the establishments, in addition to a low investment in this stage of management, making common waste potentially hazardous when mixed with healthcare wastes (Khan et al, 2019;Akkajit et al, 2020;Domingo et al, 2020).…”

“…Good waste management practices are easily achieved through the elaboration and implementation of a Healthcare Waste Management Plan (HCWMP), describing the strategies of segregation, packaging, collection, transport, destination and final disposal of wastes, according to characteristics of each waste being generated. In addition, the HCWMP must contain actions to prevent possible impacts to public health the environment (Ribeiro et al, 2020;Costa et al, 2019).…”

“…In some metropolitan cities, it was found that around 30 tons of biomedical waste are produced per day in hospitals (Manzoor and Sharma, 2019). Incorrect management of these wastes can lead to contamination of soil, water, air and bring health problems to the general population (Tesfahun et al, 2014;WHO, 2018;Costa et al, 2019;Manzoor and Sharma, 2019).…”

Municipal solid waste management under Covid-19: challenges and recommendations

“…An important stream of SW is H&MW, which is primarily categorised into non-hazardous and hazardous waste. In developing nations, the respective quantities vary from 35 to 98.7% for the non-hazardous component and from 1.3 to 65% for the hazardous one, depending on socio-economic conditions and per capita gross domestic product (Ansari et al, 2019;Costa et al, 2019). Hazardous H&MW should be disposed of in medical incinerators, and if found in MSW landfills, this is due to inappropriate disposal at generalwaste collection points or to unscrupulous contractors attempting to take advantage of the difference in tipping fee between landfills and incineration facilities.…”