Hospital waste management in Brazil: a case study.

The evaluation of the current definition, classification and quantification of hospital waste being carried out by hospitals in different countries is extremely important to avoid improper waste management practices. In this work, the waste management from a 400-bed Brazilian hospital which generates about 386 kg per day of hospital waste was studied. The generation rate of just over one kg per bed per day was considered small, although more than 50% of the waste from non-isolation wards consisted of food waste. It was also interesting to note that the highest generation rate per patient per day was found in private rooms and the lowest rate in the public ones. The waste practices used in this hospital are discussed in terms of current Brazilian legislation.