Bio-Medical waste also known as clinical waste, bio-hazardous waste, regulated medical waste, infectious medical waste, and healthcare waste refers to any kind of waste that includes infectious material (or substance that’s possibly infectious). This classification includes waste generated by healthcare facilities like hospitals, physician’s offices, dental practices, medical research facilities, laboratories, and veterinary clinics.
Bio-Medical waste can hold bodily fluids like blood or other contaminants Bio-medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998 notified by the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. These rules apply to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose of, or handle biomedical waste in any form including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, dispensaries, veterinary institutions, animal houses, pathological laboratories, blood banks, AYUSH hospitals, clinical establishments, research or educational institutions, health camps, medical or surgical camps, vaccination camps, blood donation camps, first aid rooms of schools, forensic laboratories and research labs.
Examples of Biomedical Waste:
- Everything that is saturated in the blood (gauze, gloves, gowns, etc.)
- Animal or human tissues originated during procedures
- Cultures of infectious agents/diseases
- Waste formed in patient’s rooms with infectious diseases
- Waste vaccines