| Abstrakt: |
This paper highlights the initiatives of some innovative practices that were introduced in a local hospital to promote clean development mechanisms, which would address certain issues pertaining to the methods adopted to facilitate setting up of common biomedical waste management infrastructure for safe disposal. The strategy for management of biomedical waste should also include segregation of waste streams into hazardous (but non-infectious), non-hazardous, and infectious wastes as a first step. The hazardous waste stream can be sent to hazardous waste treatment and disposal path, non-hazardous waste stream can be sent for codisposal with municipal waste, and the infectious waste can either be sent to a dedicated landfill or be co-disposed along with municipal waste after appropriate treatment. All refuse removed and collected by staff under their control and supervision is being deposited in the bins and other receptacles provided for safe packaging, storage, transportation and disposal. The biomedical waste generated is categorized and segregated into four types and are labeled appropriately with different color modes of plastic containers (Bins) that exclusively collect the varieties of biomedical waste and are located in all wards, operation theaters, laboratories etc.,. The hospital staff is being trained in handling and collection of biomedical waste for safe storage, transportation and disposal. The Bins coded colors are Blue (All Plastic Disposable Utilities), Red (Biological and Organic Materials), Orange (Radio Isotopes and Biohazard Chemicals) and Yellow (Sharps, Broken and Disposable Glass Ware) is specifically handled daily by disposal staff. The biomedical waste without disinfection can transmit lethal diseases, like AIDS and hepatitis. Similarly, indiscriminate recycling of used cotton, clothes and medicines can pose a host of health hazards, and hence an appropriate measures of safeguards need to be made for sterilization and incineration operations for biomedical waste. The hospitals with bed strength more than 500 are required to install and commission requisite facilities like incinerator, autoclave, microwave system for the treatment of their bio-medical wastes. The biomedical waste sector can generate electricity from incineration and bio-fertilizers from composting of organic and biological waste after sterilization treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
