Abstract
In this study, healthcare waste (HCW) generated in four referral hospitals in Tanzania namely: Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC), Bugando Medical Center (BMC) and Tumbi Regional Referral Hospital (TRRH) was characterized to establish its feasibility for energy recovery. The HCW collected and loaded into the incinerators was weighed and its composition determined (as highly infectious, infectious, sharps and non–infectious waste). To achieve effective energy recovery, waste segregation and color coding system were assessed. The moisture content and heating values of the waste were determined experimentally, ranging from 9.3 to 9.9 MJ/kg. Using interviews, direct observations and field measurements, the HCW generation rates, number of patients per day, number of beds and incineration rates in each health care facility were determined. Results indicated that the HCW generated were 2345, 789, 807 and 232 kg/day at MNH, KCMC, BMC and TRRH, corresponding to 1.34, 1.02, 1.1 and 0.76 kg/capital/day, respectively. The major component of the waste stream was infectious waste (which ranged from 34 to 76%). The moisture content ranged from 16 to 72% with the mean value of 43%. Further analysis on the characteristics of HCW indicated high potential for energy recovery from waste incineration. Key words: Waste characterization, waste generation rate, waste segregation, moisture content, calorific value of waste, composition of healthcare waste, incineration, heat recovery.
Highlights
The amount of waste generated at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH), Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) and Bugando Medical Center (BMC) was enough for the sustainable energy recovery except for Tumbi Regional Referral Hospital (TRRH)
MNH had the highest waste generation rate based on number of beds among the studied HCFs due to the fact that MNH is the biggest HCF in Tanzania with big number of patients, with various services offered
All departments at KCMC produced the highest amount of sharps waste compared to MNH and BMC which produced the lowest amount
Summary
Healthcare waste is the waste that is collected from hospitals, clinics and medical offices, ambulatory, surgical center, urgent care clinics, nursing homes, blood banks, birth centers and hospice homes (WHO, 2000).According to Diaz et al (2008) developing countries face severe problem in managing the healthcare waste (HCW) because segregation of waste at the production point is not done adequately and in most of theseAuthor(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International LicenseAfr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.
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