METHOD TO OBTAIN THE HEALTHCARE WASTE GENERATION IN ORDER TO MONITOR THE FULFILLMENT OF WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN IN A HOSPITAL

Abstract

In Brazil, health care establishments are required to follow a Healthcare Wastes Management Plan. In order to evaluate the implementation of HWMP, it is proposed to survey and comparison of standardized indicators to healthcare waste generation from groups A, B, C and E for internal (hospitalization) and external (appointment) attendances, before and after plan implementation. Waste segregation is a fundamental step for waste management, in this sense, the amount of wastes was divided into groups according as they were discarded in the establishment and later reclassified as they should ideally be segregated. The ratio between indicators of waste generation of the same group with and without reclassification could serve to assess the quality of the separation performed in the hospital. The healthcare waste generation indicators parameterized, in kg.occupied bed-1.d-1 and kg.attendance-1 for the internal and external attendances, made it possible to quantify the waste reduction in periods in which the numbers of attendances were different. The Mercy Hospital of Altinópolis (Brazil) served as a case study for applying the method before and after HWMP implementation. The comparison between healthcare waste generation indicators showed the waste reduction related to attendances (8% in internal and 28% in external) and the improvement in recyclables separation, which initially accounted 3% of D Group and became 21% after the HWMP.

Key Words: Characterization, Hospital, Management plan, Healthcare waste.