Different Types of Medical Waste and How to Dispose Them

By Ryan McHugh | December 3, 2019 | 4 minute read

Generally defined by the EPA as any type of waste contaminated by blood, body fluids, or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM), the different types of medical waste are separated into four categories—infectious, hazardous, radioactive, and general waste.

There are countless types of medical waste in healthcare, many of which are required to be collected, treated, and disposed of differently, making it essential that as a healthcare provider and medical waste generator, you understand the different types and how to handle them.

What Is Medical Waste According to the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines medical waste as any healthcare waste that might be contaminated by blood, body fluids, or other potentially infectious materials.

With that being a very general definition though, the EPA takes further steps in its medical waste guidelines to define and categorize medical waste into four separate groups: infectious, hazardous, radioactive, and general medical waste.

Infectious Waste

Infectious waste is any type of waste that poses a risk of infection to humans or animals. Although infectious waste comes in many forms, some of the most common include:

Blood, blood products, and bodily fluids
Blood-soaked bandages
Human/animal body parts and tissue
Blood cultures
Swabs used to inoculate cultures
Stocks
Surgical waste (discarded gloves, etc.)

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste is a non-infectious waste but still has the potential to affect humans. To be considered hazardous the waste must also meet the federal guidelines from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for what is and isn’t hazardous waste. Common types of hazardous waste include:

Chemicals (medical and industrial)
Chemotherapy agents
Hazardous medications
Sharps

Sharps

Although technically they fall into the hazardous waste category, sharps are often treated as a separate waste type because they need to be collected and disposed of separately from other medical wastes. Common sharps types include:

Needles
Syringes
Lancets
Scalpels
Razors
Ampules
Broken glass

Radioactive Waste

As the name implies, radioactive waste is any waste containing radioactive materials. Besides just waste generated from nuclear medicine treatments though, other common radioactive waste generators and types include:

Cancer Therapies
Brachytherapy treatments
Radiotherapy liquid
Lab research liquids
Medical equipment using radioactive isotopes
Contaminated glassware and supplies
Fluorine-18 (F-18)
Technetium-99 (T-99m)
Iodine-131 (I-131)
Strontium-89 (Sr-89)
Iridium-192 (Ir-192)
Cobalt-60 (Co-60)

General Waste

General medical waste is similar to other non-hazardous office or household wastes and makes up the majority of waste produced in healthcare.

Although it’s not always the first thing to come to mind with medical waste, the patient’s PHI, and medical records disposed with other general medical waste is tightly regulated by HIPAA, making it important to also take steps like working with a shredding provider to help dispose of medical paperwork safely.

How to Dispose of the Different Medical Waste Types

There are multiple methods like incineration for disposing waste, but because the various types of medical waste all have different treatment requirements it’s important to start the disposal process by separating medical waste first.