The Dangers of Improper Medical Waste Disposal

The Dangers of Improper Medical Waste Disposal

Healthcare is designed to save lives, yet the waste it generates presents one of the world’s most critical, often-unmanaged public health and environmental crises. Every day, hospitals, clinics, and laboratories worldwide produce a massive volume of waste, and the global failure in medical waste disposal is no longer a minor logistical problem; it is an issue of environmental justice and infectious disease control. While roughly 85% is general, non-hazardous material, the remaining 15% is classified as hazardous, a cocktail of infectious, toxic, or radioactive substances that, if improperly handled, can devastate ecosystems and human health.

The challenge of medical waste disposal is compounded by rising populations and the increased use of disposable items. In many regions, the lack of proper segregation, treatment, and final disposal processes effectively turns healing centres into vectors for contamination, demanding systematic reform.

The Core Crisis: Four Channels of Contamination

The consequences of poor medical waste disposal manifest across multiple domains, posing risks from the hospital floor to the atmosphere.

1. Infectious Disease Transmission and Sharps Injuries

This represents the most immediate and direct threat. Workers responsible for handling or sorting healthcare waste, including medical staff, municipal waste handlers, and scavengers, are at the highest risk.

The primary route of infection is through sharps injuries. Improperly discarded needles, syringes, and scalpels can cause cuts or punctures, leading to the transmission of bloodborne pathogens. World Health Organisation (WHO) data indicates that a person who suffers a single needle-stick injury from an infected source patient faces a 30% risk of contracting Hepatitis B (HBV) and a 1.8% risk for Hepatitis C (HCV). Studies from 2010 estimated that globally, unsafe injections were responsible for approximately 1.7 million new HBV infections and 315,000 HCV infections. This illustrates that inadequate medical waste disposal is a global driver of infectious disease.

2. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Contamination

Beyond infectious agents, a major concern is the hazardous non-infectious waste. This includes expired, unused, or excess pharmaceutical waste, particularly antibiotics and cytotoxic drugs, and chemical agents such as solvents, reagents, and disinfectants.

When mixed with general waste or illegally dumped, these substances leach into the soil and groundwater. This contamination can poison drinking water supplies and disrupt aquatic life. Crucially, the release of antibiotics into the environment contributes to a critical public health emergency: the development and proliferation of antibiotic-resistant microbes in the wider ecosystem, a phenomenon that threatens the effectiveness of modern medicine.

3. Air Pollution from Outdated Incineration

Historically, incineration was a common method of medical waste disposal to rapidly destroy pathogens and reduce volume. However, older or poorly controlled incinerators create highly toxic atmospheric pollutants.

The burning of chlorine-containing plastics and medical materials releases dioxins and furans, a class of highly toxic Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These chemicals are known human carcinogens. Additionally, incineration releases heavy metals such as mercury (from thermometers), cadmium (from batteries), and lead, along with fine particulate matter, which contributes to respiratory illnesses and general air quality degradation. Studies have shown that populations residing near older waste incinerators have been exposed to carcinogenic levels of pollutants, with increased risks of adverse health outcomes, including certain cancers and reproductive dysfunction.

However, A-Thermal takes specific steps to ensure they do not have such problems.Thermal feeds waste into a rotary furnace, where it is indirectly heated between 250 and 650 degrees celsius to liberate volatile compounds. The remaining carbonised residue is then cooled, sampled, and placed into one-ton bulk bags. Finally, the classified residue is removed according to waste regulations for disposal in a GLB+ landfill site.

4. Occupational Health Risks for Waste Workers

Sanitation and municipal waste disposal personnel, alongside healthcare workers, are disproportionately affected. In addition to sharps injuries, these workers face exposure to chemical burns, biological pathogens during manual sorting, and inhalation hazards. According to data from a health organisation from 2021, only 61% of global hospitals had basic health-care waste services, highlighting the infrastructural failure that leaves millions of waste handlers unprotected. Case studies from Sudan and other developing regions show workers frequently handling infectious waste manually due to a lack of proper equipment and training. This demonstrates that safe medical waste disposal is heavily reliant on resource allocation and worker protection.

The South African Imperative and The Plastic Plague

In South Africa, the necessity for stringent medical waste disposal practices is codified under laws such as the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (NEM:WA). This legislative framework classifies healthcare risk waste as hazardous and imposes strict requirements on its segregation, storage, transport, and treatment. However, challenges persist, as evidenced by studies across the African continent highlighting the frequent commingling of hazardous waste with general domestic trash due to resource limitations. This makes effective medical waste disposal not just a compliance requirement, but a crucial element of national public health strategy.

The importance of following the NEM:WA guidelines cannot be overstated. When institutions fail to comply with these regulations, they risk heavy penalties, environmental damage, and catastrophic public health crises. Proper compliance ensures that all hazardous components of healthcare waste are tracked from the point of generation to final disposal, safeguarding both the environment and the dedicated personnel involved in the process.

The Problem of Healthcare Plastics

A modern dimension of this crisis is the staggering volume of single-use plastics generated by the healthcare sector. The reliance on disposable items, particularly magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, has created an enormous waste challenge. This issue is primarily driven by the need for infection control, which mandates the use of vast quantities of disposable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other single-use items.

When this plastic, which is often contaminated and improperly disposed of, ends up in landfills and the environment, it breaks down into smaller, toxic fragments. This process introduces a persistent contaminant into our ecosystems with potentially severe long-term consequences.

• The COVID-19 pandemic alone contributed to an estimated 3 million face masks used globally every minute in 2020, massively accelerating plastic accumulation.
• Once improperly disposed, this plastic breaks down into microplastics that contaminate oceans, soil, and even the air.
• These microplastics enter the food web, posing currently unknown, but potentially significant, long-term consequences for human and ecological health.

Addressing this issue requires a global shift toward sustainable procurement in healthcare, favouring reusable or biodegradable alternatives wherever safety protocols allow. Without a concerted effort to manage the volume of healthcare plastics, the benefits of modern medicine will continue to be counteracted by a growing environmental blight.

Land and Water Contamination from Landfilling

The long-term impact of dumping untreated or poorly treated medical waste in general landfills cannot be overstated. This practice is unfortunately still common in many low- and middle-income regions where specialised treatment facilities are scarce or cost-prohibitive. The co-disposal of infectious and hazardous waste with municipal solid waste creates a severe and widespread environmental liability.

As the mixed waste degrades, a highly toxic liquid known as leachate is formed. This liquid is a concentrated mix of pathogens, heavy metals, and chemicals. When landfills are not properly engineered and lined, a common situation in many parts of the world, this toxic liquid migrates unchecked.

• The highly toxic leachate forms when pathogens, heavy metals, and chemicals leach out of the waste.
• This liquid migrates, contaminating surface water bodies like rivers and lakes, thereby destroying aquatic ecosystems.
• The leachate also infiltrates aquifers, the underground sources of drinking water, compromising community safety.
• The overall effect is the introduction of harmful substances into the food chain and the public drinking water supply, posing a persistent health risk.

The proper management of this hazardous liquid is central to effective medical waste disposal. Modern waste management systems must employ secure containment barriers and leachate collection/treatment systems to prevent the migration of these contaminants. Relying on simple, unlined dumpsites is a guaranteed route to long-term land and water poisoning, making investment in secure landfill technology or alternative treatment methods essential for public safety and environmental protection.

The Cost of Poor Segregation

A key insight from facility audits globally is that a significant amount of the high cost associated with medical waste disposal is unnecessary. In some Canadian hospital operating theatres, audits revealed that up to 90% of the contents in sharps bins were non-sharp, general waste such as paper or plastic packaging. This improper segregation forces non-hazardous material into expensive, specialist treatment streams (like autoclaving or high-temperature incineration), a practice that can cost hospitals substantial amounts of unnecessary fees annually. Proper segregation at the source is the simplest, most cost-effective measure to manage the volume and lower the financial and environmental burden of healthcare waste.

A-Thermal: Experts in Medical Waste Disposal

The scale and complexity of the problem, from managing infectious sharps to containing toxic dioxins, necessitate the involvement of highly specialised waste management partners. The commitment to safe, compliant, and environmentally responsible medical waste disposal requires advanced technologies that eliminate pathogens without introducing new pollutants into the environment. We believe in providing solutions that meet the stringent requirements of NEM:WA and protect both the public and our environment.

A-Thermal Retort Technologies is the South African market leader in the safe, responsible, and environmentally sustainable treatment of hazardous and toxic waste. Over the past 20 years, we have established the unique capability within South Africa to permanently destroy complex halogenated organic waste, offering a superior alternative to conventional methods like encapsulation or costly exportation. Our core vision is to be a best-in-class thermal-destruction company, delivering services with the highest regard for safety and compliance, and enabling clients to remove their most challenging waste streams in a responsible manner.

If your facility is seeking expert guidance and certified, modern treatment for hazardous healthcare risk waste, we encourage you to contact us. With our specialised knowledge and proven treatment methodologies, we ensure full compliance and environmental safety. We are A-Thermal, and we are dedicated to setting the standard for responsible hazardous waste management.