Abstract

MARMOLEJO R, Luis F; MADERA P, Carlos A  and  TORRES L, Patricia. Solid waste management in local hospitals of the north of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Rev. Fac. Nac. Salud Pública [online]. 2010, vol.28, n.1, pp.56-63. ISSN 0120-386X.

Health-care institutions must offer adequate conditions for both employers and users in order to maintain, improve or recover their health status; inadequate health-care solid waste (HSW) management is an obstacle to achieve this goal. OBJECTIVE: to estimate the quantity and composition of hsw in ten health-care public institutions located in ten municipalities in northern Valle del Cauca region (Colombia). METHODOLOGY: quantity and composition of hsw was estimated through two 24 hours sampling rounds. RESULTS: the proportion of hazardous health-care solid waste (HHSW) was usually equal to or higher than 25% and it also surpassed the mean average values reported by organizations like World Health Organization; bio-sanitary waste was the category with major proportion in the hhsw fraction. DISCUSSION: the values obtained in order to determine indicators as kg/bed-day and kg/patient-day were in a lower or equal range of those values reported by different institutional or scientific sources. Considering the health-care services offered in the evaluated institutions, the kg/patient-day indicator is considered more representative than the kg/bed-day.

Keywords : residuos sólidos hospitalarios; residuos peligrosos; health-care solid waste; hazardous waste.