What is “Medical Waste”?

MWTA or Medical Waste Tracking Act, which was introduced in 1988, defines medical wastes as any solid wastes produced or generated in the treatment, diagnosis or immunization of humans or animals. This means that medical or infectious wastes do not include hazardous and regular household waste.

More specifically, Medical Waste Tracking Act include the following as medical wastes:
1. Human blood and blood products (serum, blood components, plasma…)
2. Items containing blood in fully liquid or semi-liquid state, or items that, if squeezed, would release infectious blood or other materials.
3. Items containing blood in dried form that could release flakes if handled (compressed for example)
4. Human and animal isolation wastes, including blood and excretion, as well as items contaminated by these from humans or animals that have been isolated from healthy individuals and animals to protect them from a transmittable disease.
5. Surgery and autopsy body parts, organs and tissue. This waste is also known as “pathological waste”.
6. Surgical and autopsy disposed items, such as blood-soaked sponges, drainage sets, surgical gloves and so on, that has been exposed to liquid blood or blood products.
7. Sharps waste, such as needles, syringes with needles attached to them, root canal files, surgical scalpels and other instruments used to lacerate or penetrate human skin.
8. Cultures and stocks of microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, live and attenuated vaccines and any items used to transfer, mix or inoculate cultures
9. Animal carcasses, body parts, organs, bedding, tissue and body fluids from animals exposed to infectious agents for experimental purposes.
10. Hemodyialisis waste of items that were in contact with infected blood, such as towels, aprons, lab coats, etc.
11. Teeth removed by dentists.
12. Any other discarded medical equipment, item or waste that has exposed and contaminated with blood.

Bio-hazardous waste are to be disposed in a red plastic bag. Here are a couple of pointers on what goes and what doesn’t go in the red bag.

To know which items go in the bio-hazard waste disposal red bag and, which don’t, you should first consult the state and local laws and check your facility’s bio-hazardous waste disposal procedures and protocols and follow them. In general, you will not make a mistake if you put these items in the red bag:
1. Sharps containers
2. Visibly bloody PPE
3. Bandages and other items soaked with blood-borne

Pathological wastes, such as human body parts, organs and tissue CAN be put in the red bio-hazard waste disposal bag, but require special handling and regulations often differ regarding them from one state to another.

Certain items commonly found in hospitals as waste do not go in the red bag. These include:
1. Medications
2. Chemical waste
3. Hazardous waste
4. Preservatives
5. Radioactive waste
6. Food processing or biotechnology waste (if it doesn’t contain infections or potentially infectious agents
7. Household waste.
8. Loose needles and other sharps (these you need to put in the sharps container)