Important Tips to Reduce Your Healthcare Waste

Environment Services

 Hospital waste refers to any waste that contains infectious materials. In recent years, there has been a movement to reduce hospital waste and find sustainable waste management, with green healthcare practices gaining popularity around the world. Regulated medical waste may also be labeled as:

  • Infectious waste
  • Biological waste
  • Biohazard waste
However, state guidelines and meanings of the term "infectious" vary. Some states use the terminology given in federal recommendations from the EPA, OSHA, and DOT, but others do not. In addition to healthcare waste and regulated medical waste, hospitals have a large number of non-hazardous waste materials that can be recycled, composted, or thrown in a general waste container.

Clear Segregation Paths
There are six common categories within Regulated Medical Waste.
  1. Red bag waste, or infectious waste, refers to human blood and products that can be poured, dripped, or flaked off materials/tools.
  2. Pathological waste (human or animal waste containing organs, tissues, or body parts destined for disposal).
  3. Contaminated Sharps
  4. Isolation trash.
  5. Microbiological waste: cultures and stocks of infectious organisms.
  6. Infected animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding.
Medical waste can be classified largely as infected or non-infectious waste. The EPA defines "regulated" biohazardous waste as many types of medical waste. For example, trash vendors frequently over-segregate pharmaceutical waste; nonetheless, 95% of all medications are non-hazardous. Facilities can reduce hazardous waste through effective formulary classification and segregation, yielding significant savings for your facility.

Become A "Greener" Hospital
The healthcare industry accounts for around 5% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. A trash plan is essential for developing a more sustainable program inside your company. To reduce hospital waste costs and environmental implications, hospitals should establish baselines, specify goals, and execute strategies for more effective sorting, waste prevention, robust recycling, single-use device recycling, composting, and other techniques.

With safety and sustainability in mind, a comprehensive recycling program may motivate hospitals to recycle rather than trash. If disposable containers are still in use in the plant, switching to reusable waste containers can help reduce overall waste volumes, resulting in lower CO2 emissions and a greener facility.

Education & Training For Employees
There is an understanding gap among hospital staff about trash. In a study of over 1,000 gastroenterologists and endoscopy workers, less than 1% had a thorough understanding of medical waste disposal methods and costs.

Over-segregation of Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) is expected to cost hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States, with RMW costing 10 to 20 times more than conventional trash disposal. With proper segregation, RMW should only account for about 10% of a facility's waste. However, it often accounts for 50% of total trash volume. This demonstrates the lack of effective segmentation in the healthcare profession. By offering your employees comprehensive waste education and training, you may dramatically cut costs while saving time and effort. Where should I start? An education plan can help you define educational goals and targets for your facility, as well as convey the concept to your employees.

Hospital Waste Audits
Audits are an important part of the tool kit for understanding what trash is disposed of, where it is disposed of, and why events occur at the facility. In contrast to facility-level reporting, an audit can provide department-level information, allowing for more in-depth study. This can assist in determining how frequently containers turn and identify turn frequencies that fall outside of expected bounds.

Trihaz Solution prioritizes safety while also advising on environmentally responsible healthcare waste segregation and correct container usage, placement, and disposal practices. Waste audits can identify recommendations for proper bin placement in addition to clarifying waste streams. Facilities should adhere to container placement rules and employ such containers to reduce labor and occupational injury risks.
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