Hospital solid waste management practices in Limpopo Province, South Africa: A case study of two hospitals
- Department of Ecology and Resource Management, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Venda, Private bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, Limpopo Province (South Africa)
- School of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, P/bag 3, 2050, WITS, Johannesburg (South Africa)
The shortcomings in the management practices of hospital solid waste in Limpopo Province of South Africa were studied by looking at two hospitals as case studies. Apart from field surveys, the generated hospital waste was weighed to compute the generation rates and was followed through various management practices to the final disposal. The findings revealed a major policy implementation gap between the national government and the hospitals. While modern practices such as landfill and incineration are used, their daily operations were not carried according to minimum standards. Incinerator ash is openly dumped and wastes are burned on landfills instead of being covered with soil. The incinerators used are also not environmentally friendly as they use old technology. The findings further revealed that there is no proper separation of wastes according to their classification as demanded by the national government. The mean percentage composition of the waste was found in the following decreasing order: general waste (60.74%) > medical waste (30.32%) > sharps (8.94%). The mean generation rates were found to be 0.60 kg per patient per day.
- OSTI ID:
- 21153971
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 28, Issue 7; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2007.03.033; PII: S0956-053X(07)00370-4; Copyright (c) 2007 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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