Title: Investigation of hospital solid waste management in Iran

Authors: Jalil Jaafari; Mohammad Hadi Dehghani; Mohammad Hoseini; Gholam Hossein Safari

Addresses: Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran ' Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR, Iran; Center for Solid Waste Research, Institute for Environmental Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR, Iran ' Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR, Iran; School of Public Health, Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR, Iran ' Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract: In Iran, little information is available regarding generation, composition, handling and disposal of hospital waste. The aim of this study was to investigate of the hospital waste management in 44 public hospitals and 15 specialised hospitals in 13 provinces of Iran. This study was an observational-cross-sectional interview and data collected method field. The results showed that a per capita rate of hospital wastes in Iran is 3.16 kg per bed per day in public hospitals and 3.7 kg per bed per day in specialised hospitals. The solid waste from the public hospitals consists of general waste 56%, medical 42%, sharp 2% and in specialised hospitals general waste 63%, medical 36%, sharp 1%. The paper shows that for the most part of hospitals under study, some of the general waste was mixed with infectious waste, which was collected, transported and disposed of in a similar manner as infectious waste.

Keywords: medical waste; hospital waste; infectious waste; Iran; solid waste management.

DOI: 10.1504/WRSTSD.2015.073820

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 2015 Vol.12 No.2, pp.111 - 125

Received: 25 Jul 2014
Accepted: 29 Jun 2015
Published online: 23 Dec 2015 *

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