Hospital Waste
Management
DR. RESHMA BHATANE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Classification of Healthcare Waste-
Health Care Facilities (HCFs) are primarily responsible for management of the healthcare waste generated within
the facilities, including activities undertaken by them in the community.
The health care facilities, while generating the waste are responsible for segregation, collection, in-house
transportation, pre-treatment of waste and storage of waste, before such waste is collected by Common Bio-
medical Waste Treatment Facility
(CBWTF) Operator. Thus, for proper management of the waste in the healthcare facilities
the technical requirements of waste handling are needed to be understood and practiced
by each category of the staff in accordance with the BMWM Rules, 2016
• Waste generated from the healthcare facility is classified as:
1.Bio Medical Waste
2. General Waste
3. Other Wastes
1. Bio Medical Waste
Bio-medical waste means any waste, which is
generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or research activities
pertaining thereto or in the
production or testing of biological or in health camps. Bio-Medical waste includes all the waste generated from the
Health Care Facility which can have any adverse effect to the health of a person or to the environment in general
if not disposed properly. All such waste
which can adversely harm the environment or health of a person is considered as infectious and such waste has to
be managed as per BMWM Rules, 2016.
Bio Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 categorises the bio-
medical waste generated from the health care facility into four
categories based on the segregation pathway and colour code.
Various types of bio medical waste are further assigned to each
one of the categories, as detailed below:
1. Yellow Category
2. Red Category
3. White Category
4. Blue Category
CATEGORY TYPE OF WASTE
YELLOW • Human Anatomical Waste
Human tissues, organs, body parts and fetus below the
viability
period (as per the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act
1971,
amended from time to time).
• Animal Anatomical Waste
Experimental animal carcasses, body parts, organs, tissues,
including the waste generated from animals used in
experiments or testing in veterinary hospitals or colleges or
animal houses.
• Soiled Waste
Items contaminated with blood, body fluids like dressings,
plaster casts, cotton swabs and bags containing residual or
discarded blood and blood components.
Discarded or Expired Medicine
Pharmaceutical waste like antibiotics, cytotoxic drugs
including
all items contaminated with cytotoxic drugs along with glass
or
plastic ampoules, vials etc.
• Chemical Waste
Chemicals used in production of biological and used or
discarded disinfectants
• Chemical Liquid Waste
Liquid waste generated due to use of chemicals in
production
of biological and used or discarded disinfectants, Silver X -
ray
film developing liquid, discarded Formalin, infected
secretions,
aspirated body fluids , liquid from laboratories an d floor
washings, cleaning, house - keeping and disinfecting
activities.
• Discarded linen, mattresses, beddings
contaminated with
blood or body fluid, routine mask & gown
Microbiology, Biotechnology and other clinical laboratory
waste (Pre-treated)
• Microbiology, Biotechnology and other clinical
laboratory
waste: Blood bags, Laboratory cultures, stocks or
CATEGORY TYPE OF WASTE
RED • Wastes generated from disposable items
such as tubing,
bottles, intravenous tubes and sets, catheters,
urine bags,
syringes without needles, fixed needle syringes
with their
needles cut, vaccutainers and gloves
WHITE • Waste Sharps including metals
Needles, syringes with fixed needles, needles
from needle tip
cutter or burner, scalpels, blades, or any other
contaminated
sharp object that may cause puncture and cuts.
This includes
both used, discarded and contaminated metal
sharps
BLUE • Broken or discarded and contaminated glass
including
medicine vials and ampoules except those
contaminated with
cytotoxic wastes.
2. General Waste-
General waste consists of all the waste other than bio-medical waste and which has not
been in contact with any hazardous or infectious, chemical or biological secretions and
does not includes any waste sharps. This waste consists of mainly:
(i) News paper, paper and card boxes (dry waste)
(ii) Plastic water bottles (dry waste)
(iii) Aluminium cans of soft drinks (dry waste)
(iv) Packaging materials (dry waste)
(v) Food Containers after emptying residual food (dry waste)
(vi) Organic / Bio-degradable waste - mostly food waste (wet waste)
(vii) Construction and Demolition wastes
These general wastes are further classified as dry wastes and wet wastes and should be
collected separately.
This quantity of such waste is around 85 % to 90 % of total waste generated from the
facility. Such waste is required to be handled as per Solid Waste Management Rules,
2016 and Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016, as applicable .
3.Other Wastes
Other wastes consist of used electronic wastes, used batteries, and radio-active wastes
which are not covered under biomedical wastes but have to be disposed as and when
such wastes are generated as per the provisions laid down under E-Waste (Management)
Rules, 2016, Batteries (Management & Handling) Rules, 2001, and Rules/guidelines
under Atomic Energy Act, 1962 respectively.
