Medical Waste Management and Treatment Technologies

ABSTRACT

Medical wastes are generated in healthcare facilities and hospitals, and they include discarded materials that are contaminated with blood or infectious materials, used syringes, gloves, etc. Medical wastes are hazardous;hence, they require a special attention. The objective of this chapter is to introduce medical waste constituents, medical waste regulations, and conventional and advanced methods of medical waste management and control. This chapter discusses waste management techniques such as segregation, labeling, separation, and waste minimization methods, in addition to medical waste treatment methods including landfilling, autoclaving, chemical disinfection, microwave disinfection, plasma gasification, and pyrolysis. Furthermore, medical waste management and control during COVID-19 pandemic is examined through recent case studies. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.