Introduction

Hospitals and various other laboratories engender a wide range and a significant
quantity of wastes (including biomedical or infectious waste) that has the ability to
give rise to various health problems and environmental hazards. Generally in India,
1-2 kg waste per bed per day in a hospital and 600 gm waste per day per bed in a
clinic is generated, out of which more than 15% is hazardous or infectious and this
hazardous waste is mixed with remaining waste which results into the
contamination of the entire waste. This is why proper, effective, and efficient rules
and regulations are needed for segregation and disposal of waste. The sustainable
management of these wastes is the social and legal responsibility of the
government as well as the public at large. So these wastes have to be properly
collected, transported, and disposed of in order to safeguard the environment, and
to streamline these activities various guidelines and rules were published by the
Government of India in 1998 known as the Biomedical Waste (Management and
Handling) Rules, 1998.

These rules are continuously monitored, altered, and updated from time to time as
effective management is necessary for a cleaner and greener environment. In 2016,
the Government of India decided to publish a new set of rules, Biomedical Waste
Management Rules, 2016, supervening the old one with various changes and
additions in order to improve the collection, segregation, treatment, and disposal
facilities of these biomedical waste produced by the hospitals and laboratories to
mitigate the environmental pollution. The treatment technologies identified include
incineration, microwaving, autoclaving, and chemical treatment. This article
includes the objective, salient features, and suggestions regarding the new rules i.e.
Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Biomedical waste

Biomedical waste is defined under the rules as any waste produced during the
diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human or animal research activities
pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological or in health camps.

In simple words, these wastes include animal anatomical waste, human waste,
medical apparatus like syringes, needles, and other materials used in hospitals and
other laboratories(research center, nursing homes, blood bank, pathological
laboratories, etc) in the process of research and treatment

Sources of biomedical waste

1. Hospitals and other health facilities.

2.Laboratories and research centres.

3.Mortuary and autopsy centres.

4.Animal research and testing laboratories.

5.Blood banks and collection services.

6.Nursing homes for the elderly.

Classification

Approximately 75-90% of the biomedical waste is non-hazardous .The rest 10-

25% is hazardous waste, though mixed with non-hazardous waste, can be injurious
to humans or animals and deleterious to environment. Biomedical wastes can be
categorized based on their origin and physical, chemical or biological
characteristics.

1.General waste: Largely composed of domestic or household type waste. It is non-

hazardous to human beings,

e.g. kitchen waste, packaging material, paper, wrappers, and plastics.

2. Pathological waste: Human body parts, tissues and organs.

3. Infectious waste: The wastes which contain pathogens in sufficient

concentration or quantity that could cause diseases. It includes cultures and stocks
of infectious agents from laboratories, waste from surgery, waste originating from
infectious patients.

3. Sharps: Physically hazardous biomedical waste like needles, broken glass, saws,
nail, blades, and scalpels.

4.Pharmaceutical waste: Drugs and pharmaceutical products that are contaminated

outdated or have been spilled.

5. Chemical waste: chemicals disposed in cleaning, housekeeping, and

disinfecting.

6. Radioactive waste: It includes solid, liquid, and gaseous waste that is

contaminated with radionuclides generated from in-vitro analysis of body tissues
and fluid, in-vivo body organ imaging and tumour localization and therapeutic
procedures.