Bio Hazardous Waste and Incineration
20 to 25 percent of the total waste generated by healthcare establishments is regarded as hazardous and may create a variety of health and environmental risks if not managed and destroyed in an appropriate manner.
With the large number of health care facilities and hospitals increasing all around the globe, hazardous waste management and disposal is becoming a serious problem.
What Is Bio Hazardous Waste?
Bio hazardous waste is a category of biologically derived waste or a waste type contaminated with biological materials. Any biological process, whether medical, clinical, veterinary or resulting from animal processing produce biological tissue, fluids or potentially infectious substances.
Any items, implements, or materials used in such processes are at high risk of contamination. I left un-managed as a form of waste, they can often become more hazardous with serious environmental and health implications. High-income countries generate on average up to 0.5 kg of hazardous waste per hospital bed per day. Low-income countries generate on average 0.2 kg.
In England, approximately 273,559 tonnes of medical waste was disposed of in 2017.
This represents only a proportion of the total bio hazardous waste disposed of annually in the UK alone. On a global scale with a wider variety of waste, means numbers are even higher. This shows exponential growth and if left un-managed, can manifest as serious environmental pollution.
Where Is Bio Hazardous Waste Generated From?
The types of organisations generating waste include:
- Veterinary practices;
- Hospitals
- Dental practices;
- Opticians;
- Podiatrists;
- General practices;
- Pharmacies;
- Health Clinics
- Residential homes with and without nursing care;
- Research facilities;
- Private and independent healthcare organisations;
- Other non-health practices producing healthcare-type waste (for example tattooists, body piercers);
- Practices offering complementary and alternative treatments;
- Voluntary organisations.
What are Some Bio Hazard Examples?
Bio hazardous waste includes:
- Human body fluid
- Sharps waste (IV tubing, needles and scalpels)
- Human blood and blood products
- Pathological waste (Unfixed human tissue or waste biopsy materials)
- Microbiological wastes (specimen cultures, discarded viruses or equipment used to transfer or mix cultures)
What Are The Regulations for Disposing of Bio Hazardous Waste?
In England and Wales, the Hazardous Waste Regulations require that most premises producing hazardous waste be registered with the EA. Premises are exempt from the requirement to register if they produce less than 500 kg of hazardous waste in any period of 12 months.
The Waste Bag Classification System
Testing, analysis and classification of bio hazardous waste is critical in every scenario. The waste bag classification system issued by the Government gives some guidelines on how waste should be sorted and temporarily stored before treatment and disposal.
- Orange bins – For the storage and disposal of sharps not containing or contaminated with medicines. For example, sharps used for blood samples and acupuncture
- Yellow bins – For the storage and disposal of sharp wastes contaminated with or containing medicines or anaesthetics
- Red Bags– To dispose of solid or liquid items contaminated with blood or other waste containing infectious materials.
- Purple bins – For the disposal of sharps and medicines with Cyto-toxic or Cyto-static contents or contamination
- Blue bins – For the disposal of out of date drugs, used drug denaturing kits and discarded items used for handling ofpharmaceuticals. This includes bottles or boxes with residues, gloves, masks, connecting tubes, syringe bodies and drug vials Anatomical waste.
Waste auditing is also important as a means of managing waste, It is also important for managing disposal and the volumes and frequency of waste types. The regulations for disposing of bio hazardous waste are precise and its disposal is strictly controlled.
Waste management is important for bio hazardous waste to prevent the risk of disease and infection to anyone who may come into contact with it.
Read MoreWaste auditing is also important as a means of managing waste, It is also important for managing disposal and the volumes and frequency of waste types. The regulations for disposing of bio hazardous waste are precise and its disposal is strictly controlled.
Waste management is important for bio hazardous waste to prevent the risk of disease and infection to anyone who may come into contact with it.
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