Hospitals produce a large amount of waste daily from plastics, cardboard, needles, mixed papers, glass, and hazardous waste. Inappropriate waste disposal methods significantly impact the environment and have indirect health effects. I would not recommend landfills and incineration of waste widely practiced by hospitals. Disposing of hospital waste in landfills contaminates the soil and water sources, indirectly risking contaminated diseases (CDC, 2015). Large volumes of non-biodegradable wastes produced by hospitals cannot be decomposed. Recycling with adequate systems is environmentally sound to maintain patient safety and the environment.
Environmental recycling should be classified to preserve the health of patients and workers in your hospital. The World Health Organization estimates that 85% of hospital waste is non-hazardous, whereas 15% is hazardous (WHO, 2018). While incineration is the most effective management for hazardous material, solid non-hazardous waste poses a challenge to landfills. However, unlike regular waste, solid waste in hospitals is contaminated with micro-organisms from infectious patients that, if not disposed of and handled with an efficient procedure, risk causing harm to anyone who comes in contact with them. Therefore, the recycling process in hospitals is conducted with much care and follows a standard procedure to mitigate contamination threats.
A recycling department would be effective in handling solid waste in hospitals. The recycling department will have a functional organizational structure will a leader and other groups performing specific functions. Before recycling, the solid waste from hospitals should be chemically disinfected with the appropriate precaution to prevent contamination risks. All waste generated from hospitals, despite their material, should be considered hazardous or infectious (Adelodun et al., 2021). The waste will then be sorted according to material and recyclability. Recycling will convert solid waste into substitute raw materials for new products such as paperboard and building insulation. I want to establish a recycling department to manage paper, cardboard, non-medical, and packaging waste.
References
Adelodun, B., Ajibade, F. O., Ibrahim, R. G., Ighalo, J. O., Bakare, H. O., Kumar, P., & Choi, K. S. (2021). Insights into hazardous solid waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic and sustainable management approaches for developing countries. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 23(6), 2077-2086.
CDC. (2015). Medical waste. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHO. (2018). Health-Care Waste. World Health Organization.