Biomedical Waste

Biomedical wasteBioMedical Waste (BMW) comprises of all liquid and solid wastesSolid waste generated from various sources apart from medical establishments and activities involving biological materials. COVID-19 pandemic drew the attention of world in disposing BMW with special emphasis to curb infection chain. Even though the quantity is very small, BMW is significant with respect to public health perspective. Waste generation ratesGeneration rates vary across the globe with high-income nation generating 1.1–12.0 kg/person/year, middle-income nations generating 0.8 to 6.0 kg/person/year, and low-income nations generating 0.5–3.0 kg/person/year. The median values indicated that hospital wasteWaste in North and South America was 4.42 and 1.64 kg/bed/day, respectively, whereas in Oceania, it was 0.19 kg/bed/day while in Africa hospital waste generation was 0.19 kg/bed/day. Infectious wasteInfectious waste contains pathogensPathogens in significant concentration to cause sickness in susceptible hosts. Infectious wasteInfectious waste includes stocks and cultures of infectious material from surgery/autopsies on patients with infectious sickness, laboratory work, and wasteWaste that was in contact with infected animals/patients/substances. This chapter discusses the importance and meaning of BMW management.