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A Quick Guide to Proper Medical Waste Disposal

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Medical waste is a far different type of waste compared to residential. Given the nature of operations being done to have those byproducts, the contents can vary from a harmless tissue paper to an infected body part. Additionally, this happens daily, and that is why the process for medical waste disposal must be safe and effective through the following steps:

Step 1: Segregation and Collection of Biomedical Waste

In a hospital where procedures are systematic, the easiest way for collecting and segregation is through a color-coding categorization.

❖ Red = sharp wastes like needles
❖ Red w/ the biohazard symbol = infectious wastes like blood samples
❖ Yellow = chemotherapy wastes like used vials
❖ Yellow (shielded) w/ the radioactive symbol = radioactive wastes like lab materials
❖ Black = hazardous waste like medicinal drugs
❖ Blue = pharmaceutical wastes like vitamins

Step 2: Storage and Transportation of Biomedical WasteStorage of these sorted wastes must be well-secured so that no leakage and mixture can happen. These also must not be grouped with other types of waste for these carry more destructive potential than any other else. Specialized waste handlers do transportation.

A garbage truck with a compactor, the one used to collect from garbage bins, is not applicable since the possibility of unnecessary mixing is possible.

Step 3: Disposal and Treatment of Biomedical WasteDisposal of medical waste to a landfill is not a good idea.

The untreated chemicals can leak to the soil, and microorganisms that might be populated from the portions of waste will exponentially grow in such a wide area.Treatment is very diverse. Commonly, incineration can reduce everything, but the fumes can smell dangerous to the environment.

Conclusion

The very keys to proper waste disposal can be summarized as two: a disciplined organization of waste and a trusted medical waste handler.