Hospital Waste Management and Generation in a Palestinian Charitable Hospital

Hospital waste stands as a distinct and hazardous category due to its potential inclusion of infectious and contaminated elements, posing severe threats to the environment and public health. Understanding the quantity and nature of hospital waste is pivotal for effective management. The primary objective of this study was to assess the practices of waste management adopted at a charitable hospital in Palestine, in addition to waste quantification and characterization. Over the course of seven consecutive days, solid waste produced within a 24-h cycle was collected, weighed at 2-h intervals from various hospital departments, segregated, and classified into general and medical waste. Getting to know such detailed information has never been known before, making the study distinctive. Hospital averaged 1.38 kg medical, 2.42 kg general waste/bed/day, totaling 3.80 kg solid waste/bed/day. The maximum amount of medical waste was between 6:00 and 8:00, while the maximum amount of general waste was from 12:00 to 14:00. The medical waste generated on 2-h intervals represented 36.5 (by weight) and 29.2% (by volume) of the total solid waste. The study highlighted deficiencies in waste management practices at the hospital, notably the absence of proper segregation as per the World Health Organization guidelines. Medical waste was disposed of alongside household waste without appropriate handling or treatment. There were clear inadequacies in the hospital’s approach to medical waste management, primarily due to improper waste segregation at the source, inadequate waste collection and storage methods, and insufficient financial and human resources allocated to ensure proper management.