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In this article, we are going to share detailed information on biomedical waste management (BMW). And if you are interested in more articles, comment to us below.
What Is Biomedical Waste Management?
Biomedical waste management is referred to as a set of procedures that aids in proper disposable waste generated from the hospital in a harmless manner that ensures the prevention of infections or diseases to be spread.
Generally, 1-2 Kg of waste per bed per day is generated in the hospital. So, can you guess how much waste is produced from the entire hospital per day, how much waste is generated from the hospitals in a city daily, how much in the country?. So, to treat these waste biomedical waste management came into the existence.
Hospital waste is generated during:
- Research
- Operative wards
- Laboratories
- Healthcare
- Clinics
- Testing on humans and animals, etc.
Types Of Biomedical Waste?
Biomedical waste is of two types depending on their property to cause infection or not:
- Infectious waste:
- Non-infectious waste:
- Harmless waste:
It is estimated that 85 per cent of biomedical waste is harmless and about 15 per cent of waste is harmful.
1. Infectious waste:
Infectious waste is the type of waste that would be contaminated and transmit pathogens to any person who comes in contact with it. The contact may be direct or indirect, but the risk of getting infected is high.
Infectious waste includes:
- Used Scalpel blades
- Cultural media
- Used gloves, masks, and PPE kits
- Broken glass
- Used needles and syringes
- Blood sample sent for testing
- Pathological fluids
- Dressing
- Swabs
- Used micropipette
- Human waste during the autopsy, surgery, biopsy, and other procedures, etc.
2. Non-infectious waste:
Non-infectious waste may include substances like radioactive substances, chemicals that are inflammable, reactive toxic, corrosive, etc.), or other pharmacological (expired drugs) waste. This kind of waste might be injurious to the body but not infectious.
3. Harmless waste:
Harmful waste is waste that includes cardboard, paper, flowers, food and kitchen products, cartons, or other domestic waste which does not contain any infection-causing agents.
Different Methods Of Waste Management:
Biomedical waste is treated by using various methods that ensure reducing the waste volume, recycling the reusable materials, prevent the spreading of infections, safe transport, and proper disposal.
- Segregation
- Temporary Storage
- Transport Of The Waste
- Proper Disposal
1. Segregation:
Segregation is a procedure that aids in the separation of the waste at the time of generation into different kinds of containers with respect to the category of the waste. Waste products when mixed with harmless objects like paper or wrapping materials, the whole should be sterilized using an autoclave method, as they might be contaminated. This aids in better management of the waste. The various container used in the biomedical waste management process are listed below:
Red Container:
Red container refers to a container with red colour coding or due to the use of red plastic bags in the container. The waste discarded in the red container includes infectious wastes like:
- Cultural media
- Plastic waste
- IV sets
- Catheters
- Gloves
- Blood bags
- Contaminated Aprons
- Masks
- Urine bags, etc.
Treatment:
Autoclaving or Chemical treatment.
Black Container:
Black container refers to a container with black colour coding or due to the use of black plastic bags in the container. The waste discarded in the black container includes wastes like:
- Discarded medicines
- Incineration ash
- Cytotoxic drugs
- Other Chemical wastes, etc.
Treatment:
Disposal Into safe and secure landfill.
Light Blue/ white Container:
Light Blue or white container refers to a container with light blue or white colour coding or due to the use of light blue or white plastic bags in the container. The waste discarded in the container includes infectious plastic wastes from the patient like:
- IV cannula
- Blood set
- Catheters
- plastic tubings, etc.
Treatment:
Shredding or autoclaving or chemical treatment.
Puncture Proof (Transparent or blue or Cardbox) Container:
A puncture-proof container is a type of container that is resistant to any sharp object and prevent the leakage of the contents out of the container. The waste discarded in the container includes wastes like:
- Needles
- Broken glassware
- Scalpels
- Ampules, etc.
Treatment:
Autoclaving or shredding or chemical treatment.
Yellow Container:
A yellow container refers to a container with yellow colour coding or due to the use of yellow plastic bags in the container. The waste discarded in the yellow container includes wastes like:
- Contaminated dressing
- Lab waste
- Body part
- Surgical waste
- Placental
- Cotton gauze and bandages
- Human and animal waste
- Menstrual cloths
- Sanitary napkins, etc.
Treatment:
Incineration or deep burial.
Green Container:
A green container refers to a container with green colour coding or due to the use of green plastic bags in the container. The waste discarded in the green container includes harmless wastes like:
- Wrappers
- Plastics
- Glass
- kitchen products
- Cardboards
- Food, etc.
Treatment:
Deep burial or incineration.
2. Temporary Storage:
The segregated waste is not directly sent to disposal but is temporarily stored in a storage cabin in the hospital prior to disposal. The storage room should be such that no birds, rodents, animals, or visitors should be able to enter the room.
3. Transport Of The Waste:
After segregation, treatment, and temporary storage of biomedical waste, they are sent to disposal using a suitable mode of transportation. The transporting vehicle should be such that it should minimize the leakage or fall of waste on the way of disposal.
The vehicle should be closed for waste like infectious and non-infectious. The vehicle might be open for the harmless waste generated in a green container.
4. Proper Disposal:
The waste generated in the hospital is ultimately sent to the disposal after the treatment using the techniques of autoclave, incineration, etc. The wastes are disposed of through deep burial, landfilling, and sewage.
Infectious waste after treatment is disposed of by deep burial and landfilling.
Liquid waste after treatment is disposed of in sewage drain.
Treatment Of Biomedical Waste Management?
Autoclaving is a method of sterilization that uses moist heat to destroy the microbes present on the objects. The temperature recommended for the process ranges from 121 degrees for 15 minutes to 134 degrees for 3 minutes.
The materials treated using autoclave are:
- Hospital dressings, gloves, and gowns
- Surgical instruments
- Pharmaceutical products
- Surgical equipment
- Cultural media, etc.
Liquid Waste:
The liquid waste generated in the hospital includes toxic liquid, chemical, and pathological waste. This waste should be first treated with reagents, disinfectants, and neutralizers and render harmless before flushing this liquid into the sewage drains.
Deep Burial:
The process of deep burial is not done anywhere there is open land but it should be done in barren land far away from the inhabited place, without destroying agricultural or forest land. After disinfection the materials are put in deep trenchers, mainly covered with lime and filled with soil.
Incineration is a dry heat method of sterilization. This method is good to treat materials such as contaminated cloth, anatomical waste, animal carcases, amputated limbs, etc. These materials are put in an incinerator where they are converted to ashes due to high heat supply.
Chemical Disinfection:
This type of method is very easy to use and are less expensive. Some of the materials are treated with chemical disinfectants prior to their disposal. The contaminated body fluids like pus, sputum, blood, etc. are treated with disinfectant before being autoclaved or buried.
Shredding:
Shredding refers to the process of cutting objects or materials into the pieces. The infected plastic waste is first treated using autoclave and then shredded and recycled.
Land Filling:
Landfilling process uses two types of land for the disposal of waste.
- Open dumps
- Sanitary landfills
Open dumps are at the risk of human and animal visits but sanitary landfills are far away from the habited places, proper planned, regular waste coverage and is monitored by the staff.
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