Authors : Abdollah Dargahi, Ali Azizi, Mitra Mohammadi, Khadijeh Shamsi, Zeinab Jafari Motlagh, Samira Mohammadi, Tahereh Amirian and Somayeh Beidaghi
Abstract: Infectious waste is categorized as hazardous waste that can cause the transmission of infectious diseases, so the objective of this study was to survey the hospitals and healthcare centers waste management in Sari, Iran in 2015. This study was analytical cross-sectional study. The study population consisted of all hospital (private and public) and all healthcare centers, medical diagnostic laboratories, offices included (public, specialized and dental offices) which was selected through random sampling. In the present study, the questionnaire consisted of open and closed questions was used. The result showed that per capita of hospital waste generation was 2.41 kg/day per active bed in hospital, 0.13 kg/day per person in laboratories and 1.73 kg/day per generated unit in healthcare center. Infectious wastes constituted 35.87% of total generated waste, 65.42% of total generated waste in laboratories, 7.11% of total generated waste in healthcare centers and 33.19% of total generated waste in offices as well. The amount of waste that separated in hospital, healthcare center, offices. The maximum amount of infectious waste generation were related to hospitals, healthcare center, medical laboratories and offices included (public, specialized and dental offices), respectively. In regard to improper separation of waste in offices and laboratories, it is recommended to encourage employees to reduce the hazardous waste, burning the infectious waste and collecting the noninfectious waste through the special machines.
Abdollah Dargahi, Ali Azizi, Mitra Mohammadi, Khadijeh Shamsi, Zeinab Jafari Motlagh, Samira Mohammadi, Tahereh Amirian and Somayeh Beidaghi, 2016. Assessment of Solid Waste Management in Hospitals and Healthcare Centers: A Case Study in Sari, Iran. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 11: 1078-1084.