The precautions of clinical waste: disposable medical sharps in the United Kingdom

This article deals with recent changes in UK guidance on clinical waste, in particular a shift to disposable, single-use instruments and sharps. I use interviews conducted with nurses from a GP practice and two clinical waste managers at alternative treatment and incineration sites as a springboard for reflection on the relationship between the legislation on clinical waste management and its implementation. Scrutinizing the UK guidance, European legislation and World Health Organization principles, I draw out interviewees’ concerns that the changed practices lead to an expansion of the hazardous waste category, with an increased volume going to incineration. This raises questions regarding the regulations’ environmental and health effects, and regarding the precautionary approach embedded in the regulations. Tracing the diverse reverberations of the term ‘waste’ in different points along the journeys made by sharps in particular, and locating these questions in relation to existing literature on waste, I emphasize that public health rationales for the new practices are not made clear in the guidance. I suggest that this relative silence on the subject conceals both the uncertainties regarding the necessity for these means of managing the risks of infectious waste, and the tensions between policies of precautionary public health and environmental sustainability

Risk Identification and Assessment in PPP Infrastructure Projects using Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and Life-Cycle Methodology

To fulfil the increasing demands of the public,Public Private Partnership (PPP) has beenincreasingly used to procure infrastructureprojects, such as motor ways, bridges, tunnelsand railways. However, the risks involved inPPP projects are unique and dynamic due tolarge amount of investment and longconcession period. This paper aims to developa risk identification framework from theperspectives of project life cycle, and anassessment framework for risks associatedwith PPP project using fuzzy analyticalhierarchy process (AHP). First the paperreviews the current literature to identifycommon risks in PPP infrastructure projectsand classification methods used. The risksidentified from the literature were classifiedusing project life cycle perspectives. Followingthat, the paper presents the advantages offuzzy AHP. Furthermore, the paper provides aframework for assessment of risks in PPPprojects followed by an illustrative examplewhere the data was obtained from surveyquestionnaires. The paper concludes that risksassociated in PPP infrastructure projects areunique and therefore it is beneficial to classifythem from project life cycle perspectives, andthe proposed fuzzy AHP method is suitable forthe assessment of these risks

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of hazardous waste generated by Crime Scene Laboratories (CSL) in Mpumalanga, South Africa

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Environmental Sciences by coursework and research report. Johannesburg, 2017.Mismanagement of hazardous waste has been witnessed in many part of the world including South Africa, and it has costed the environment too much pollution. This study aimed to analyse Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology of Crime Scene Laboratory waste. To this aim, aspects analysed included assessment of potential environmental impacts evaluated with each stage of waste management, such as waste generation stage, processing, collection, transportation and disposal. Results showed that crime scene laboratories were only addressing the cost associated with collection and transportation of their waste for disposal, and no assessment of environmental impacts by means of LCA was practiced. This study also investigated how hazardous waste generation is managed. Data was collected from six laboratories (Witbank, Secunda, Ermelo, Nelspruit, Acornhoek and Lydenburg) for the period of eight months. Aspects analysed included suitability of temporary waste storage which should be able to prevent release of waste, use of waste registers which are used to determine how much time is taken for waste to be disposed, regular inspection of waste bins for monitoring of leakages and overfilling, and the competency of people managing waste. Findings showed that CSL’s have poor waste storage facilities and waste is temporary stored inside the laboratories and building passages when the space inside the laboratories is a challenge due to delayed waste collection by contracted service provider. Results also showed that no waste minimisation strategies were established to reuse generated waste for secondary products to reduce quantity aimed for disposal. Furthermore, production of waste per site, nature of waste, months, and waste type was compared, and Statsoft statistics analysis technique for this purpose was used to analyse these differences which summarized variation across the sites. The level of variation was estimated at significant level of 0.05.Results showed that Ermelo produced significantly more non-anatomic biological waste, Witbank produced significantly more heavy metals and Lydenburg more Inorganic and organic acids and bases different to other locations. Non-anatomic biological waste was significantly produced more in January, May, June and August different to other months. Statistics results on the nature of waste showed that chemical, biological and miscellaneous waste was significantly produced more in February and May different to other months. Non –chlorinated waste was significantly produced more in January. Statistics results on waste types showed that all types of waste were significantly produced more in February different to other months, also in March all waste types were significantly produced, except non-anatomic biological waste, which was significantly produced more in April, July and August. The study makes recommendations on adoption of LCA, waste separation methods, storage and minimisation methods and training of waste handlers as an important aspect of environmental protection. The study also recommends an adoption of the Environmental Management system, ISO 14000 by the CSL’s. The standard according to the literature encourages and gives guidance in achieving cleaner productions including waste separations and minimisations in order to avoid pollution of natural resources by mismanagement wastes.LG201

ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH CARE WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPLIANCE IN THE NORTHERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

ThesisPoor handling of health care waste has posed many adverse health effects for health care workers, the general public and the environment. The vastness of the Northern Cape Province has directly impacted negatively on the poor performance of health care facilities, particularlyin terms of health care waste management. Public health care facilities in the region are the major generators of health care waste (HCW) in the Northern Cape Province. This study reports on the assessment of the HCW management practices in terms of the health care waste life cycle within the Northern Cape Department of Health (South Africa). The results of the assessment were compared with applicable legislative requirements and global practices in HCW management. The study was conducted in five districts of the Northern Cape Department of Health and 11 hospitals were selected randomly as study sites from a total of 17 hospitals. Data obtained from the service provider wereused to determine the quantities of the health waste at each study site. Interviews using a structured questionnaire were also used to assess the knowledge and practices of HCW handlers. An estimated 16 070 kg of health care waste was generated by 36 437 patients per month at the 11 surveyed hospitals. The survey illustrated that the main health care waste types generated in the hospitals were general infectious waste, sharps waste, anatomical waste and pharmaceutical waste. It was concluded that the heath care waste management practices in the hospitals in the Northern Cape Department of Heath, South Africa, did not meet the recommended standards for the management of HCW as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). There was a very low prioritisation of HCW management by top management. Inadequate human and financial resources allocated for HCW management were highlighted. Complete health care waste management requires adequate resource allocation and appropriate support from senior management within the Northern Cape Department of Health. Reprioritisation of funding and human resources towards HCW management in all health care facilities is required to improve the environment and make it safe for humans and animals

Hazardous Waste Management

This book presents a comprehensive overview of hazardous waste and hazardous waste management. It describes the various types and constituents of hazardous waste, discusses hazardous waste management techniques and technologies, and highlights techno-economic considerations and key issues in remediation. It is a useful resource for waste management and treatment professionals, chemical engineers, technicians, medical professionals, and environmental regulators as well as students studying hazardous waste management, environmental engineering, and environmental science

Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process on Preferable Speed Limit for Logistics Company: A Case Study on Hokkaido Roads

Recently, National Police Agency of Japan has announced a plan to revise a speed limit regulation. Numbers of research have been done to determine an appropriate speed limit, but none of them have taken an analysis by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) into account. AHP can help to reveal the road users’ viewpoints. Therefore, this research proposes the application of AHP to determine the preferable speed limit on Hokkaido roads for logistics-based businesses. Herein, safety, driving comfort and travel time were used as AHP criteria. A verification of AHP with our previous speed limit studies was also accomplished. The results showed that safety was the most important criterion, followed by travel time and driving comfort, respectively. In conclusion, according to the road and traffic conditions, we implied that these preferable speed limits are appropriate for Hokkaido roads. So it could be a guideline to set the new limits for Hokkaido roads. Furthermore, AHP is proposed to be an effective tool to determine these appropriate speed limits

Municipal solid waste disposal in developing countries: a case study of Wa Municipality, Ghana

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a global challenge and the situation is worse in urban areas of developing countries due to ineffective disposal systems. In many industrialised countries, waste minimisation and recycling/reuse policies have been introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated, and increasingly, alternative waste management practices to waste disposal on land have been implemented to reduce the environmental impacts of MSWM. Nevertheless, research and MSWM in most developing countries have largely concentrated on waste collection. This doctoral study investigates how planning and decision-making for MSW disposal in developing countries with similar circumstances and MSW problems to Ghana can be improved, using the Wa Municipality as a case study. It established the baseline scenario of MSW disposal and examined MSW disposal management and operational performances. The methodology and research design for the study was a descriptive and interpretive case study that was analysed through both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The key research findings indicate that the current state of MSW disposal management performance in Ghana does not present an enabling environment for effective MSW disposal. Also, the present MSW disposal practices in the case study area and Ghana in general consist of some waste collection, transportation and open dumping, where the entire amount of waste is open dumped without pre-treatment. Evaluation of MSW disposal operational performance through modelling and scenario analysis showed that open dumping/landfilling of waste creates copious health effects (0.0001519 lbs/year on average), whereas, MSW disposal in an integrated solid waste management (ISWM) system optimises the minimisation of health effects (-0.0005812 lbs/year on average). The study developed and validated a framework for the improvement of planning and decision-making for MSW disposal, which can easily be applied in the context of developing countries. Also, the developed framework provides a theoretical standpoint for the concept of MSW disposal in ISWM. Appropriate MSW disposal treatment technologies based on the developed framework could be applied to ameliorate the impacts of MSW disposal in Ghana and other developing countries

The development and institutionalisation of an integrated health care waste information system

Includes bibliographical references.Waste management generally in South Africa is poorly defined and practised, and the inadequate management of health care waste (HCW) has been recognised by the South African government as a significant environmental and public health risk. The literature revealed that an integrated health care waste information system (IHCWIS) serves as an important intervention to address the issue of poor health care waste management (HCWM). The overall key research question which this research asked was: "How does an IHCWIS develop and become institutionalised among health care waste generators?" The aim of the research was to gather empirical data to understand how the development and institutionalisation of an IHCWIS contributes to effective HCWM