Medical Waste Generation Rate Research Articles

A data-driven approach to improving hospital waste management

ABSTRACT This study aims to clarify the factors influencing the financial burden of medical waste management (MWM) on public hospitals, and develop a best-reduced model for predicting MWM cost for hospitals. The medical waste generation rate was computed considering the hospital type and its location. MWM cost in selected hospitals was calculated using the variable pricing method. The mean medical waste generation rate was 0.70 kg per bed per day and 11 kg per surgical procedure. On average, with a daily 420 kg medical waste generated, urban hospitals were the major sources of medical waste. MWM cost in urban hospitals was much greater than that in rural hospitals. The results present an evaluation of how well MWM cost can be predicted by the number of surgical procedures, outpatients and distance of the hospital from the city centre. This study highlights the fact that cost-saving strategies at hospital organizational level are essential for reducing the enhanced MWM cost in hospitals.

Evaluation of the Reality of the Management and Treatment of Solid Waste in Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital

The aim of this study is to evaluate the reality of the management and treatment of solid waste in Al-Yarmouk teaching hospital, it’s observed that total generation rate of solid waste per day was 116.133 kg/day. while the rate of medical waste generation was 55.075 kg/day. More than 50% of this waste was generated in the surgery rooms and patients' rooms. As well as, it was found that the generation rate of waste for each bed per day was (0.87) kg, while it was (0.28 kg/bed.day) of medical solid waste. In addition, the medical wastes characteristics are studied by taking samples during 3 months of 2017, and analyzing them to determine their moisture content and density. The moisture content are observed between (1.7-30%, 40-56%) for medical and general waste respectively. While the density are (270.4 and 239), kg/m3 for medical and general waste respectively. In addition, the number of surgical operations and the number of patients per day are shown to be most important factors affecting the generation rate of medical waste in the hospital. The treatment of medical wastes for Al-Yarmouk Hospital adopts a system of steam sterilization in a special system.

Assessment of Electrical Energy from Pyrolysis of Medical Waste in Jessore City, Bangladesh

Energy crisis and environmental degradation is considered most talked of the topics of modern global development. Medical waste has dangerous impacts on the environment. Besides, load shedding has come to be a great problem in socioeconomic development of Bangladesh for the reason that of the serious electricity crisis. This study also focused on energy recovery potentiality from plastic content of medical waste (PCMW) by converting it into electric energy. This plastic waste integrates an enormous amount of energy and consequently, attention in new renewable sources of energy from these wastes has been augmented, at the present time. Bangladesh as well as Jessore city faces an excessive environmental problem because of improper management of medical waste. This study demonstrated that the medical waste generation rate in Jessore city was found to be approximately 3 ton/day which is about 6.89% of total waste generation in this city throughout the study period. Besides, electric power generation projections from the PCMW were estimated at 74448 kWh per year respectively. This study suggested that appropriate PCMW management policy as well as awareness increasing regarding the management of PCMW is requirement for the development of existing status of living condition.

Medical waste management and production rate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The population of Saudi Arabia is about 32 million with continuously increasing waste generated from healthcare facilities. Assessment of medical waste (MW) generation rates in hospitals is a crucial step in medical waste management and disposal systems. The objective of this study was to analyze the present status of medical waste management and to statistically evaluate the generation rates of MW in healthcare centers and hospitals located in the Eastern Province of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The average per hospital MW production in the Eastern Province (EP) was found to be 640.74 (± 0.59) ton/year. The study results showed that the average production per health center was 0.598 (± 0.119) ton/year. In addition, the calculated average MW generation rate is 0.51 kg/bed/day and the average MW produced per patient per day is1.66 kg/patient/day. The estimation of MW production in the EP about 5781.9 ton/day. Moreover, this study reveals that the practice used in all healthcare centers and hospitals in the Eastern Province is to separate solid waste from MW and to collect and transfer for final dumping in a non-engineered landfill by operated by private authorized companies. This study strongly recommends using autoclave technology for the plastic part of the medical waste at the collection site and reuse as fuel in waste-to-energy facilities or as a fuel alternative in cement industry.

Medical waste management in three areas of rural China.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to describe current practices of medical waste management, including its generation, investments, collection, storage, segregation, and disposal, and to explore the level of support from upper tiers of the government and health care system for medical waste management in rural China.MethodsThe authors draw on a dataset comprised of 209 randomly selected rural township health centers (THCs) in 21 counties in three provinces of China: Anhui, Shaanxi and Sichuan. Surveys were administered to health center administrators in sample THCs in June 2015.ResultsThe results show that the generation rate of medical waste was about 0.18 kg/bed, 0.15 kg/patient, or 0.13 kg/person per day on average. Such per capita levels are significant given China’s large rural population. Although investments of medical waste facilities and personnel in THCs have improved, results show that compliance with national regulations is low. For example, less than half of hazardous medical waste was packed in sealed containers or containers labeled with bio-hazard markings. None of the THCs segregated correctly according to the categories required by formal Chinese regulations. Many THCs reported improper disposal methods of medical waste. Our results also indicate low levels of staff training and low rates of centralized disposal in rural THCs.ConclusionsMedical waste is a serious environmental issue that is rising on the agenda of policymakers. While a large share of THCs has invested in medical waste facilities and personnel, it appears that actual compliance remains low. Using evidence of low rates of training and centralized disposal, we surmise that a lack of support from upper tiers of management is one contributing factor. Given these findings, we recommend that China’s policymakers should enhance support from upper tiers and improve monitoring as well as incentives in order to improve medical waste management.

Modelling, Composition and production rate of medical solid waste in Tikrit: A case study of Tikrit Teaching Hospital (TTH) in Iraq

Tikrit Teaching Hospital (TTH), Tikrit, Iraq, was selected for investigation as a case study. Data collection was carried out during TTH visits and by questionnaires. Sampling was performed during a 10-month period, one week each sampling month. The medical waste analyzed was comprised of 63.04% general waste (non-risk) and 36.96% hazardous waste. The results indicated that the medical waste generation rate is 0.9 kg/bed.day and 0.75 kg/patient.day. Statistically significant linear correlations were established between the daily production of medical solid waste and the respective number of patients and the occupied beds in TTH as whole. Based on the average daily production of medical solid waste produced by the departments of TTH (kg /d), the larger producer of general medical solid waste was obstetric department with average daily production of 25 kg/d, while the larger producer of hazardous medical solid waste was obstetric department with average daily production of 11 kg/d. The average specific weight of total medical waste, general waste, and hazardous waste were determined to be 218.6, 206.5 and 225.54 kg/m3, respectively. The average moisture content of total medical waste, general waste, and hazardous waste were determined to be 21, 20.4 and 23.4 %, respectively. The average general medical waste composition was: 40% organics, 21% plastics, 19% paper, 11% glass and 9% metals. Pathological wastes and sharp objects comprised 43% and 25% of the hazardous medical waste components.
 
 © 2018 JASET, International Scholars and Researchers Association

Determining the Hazardous Medical Waste Generation Rates of Private Health Care Facilities-Case Study from Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Many developing countries are lagging behind the developed countries to properly manage their hazardous healthcare waste. These waste pose a significant epidemiological risks to the general people. To estimate the epidemiological risks and to establish parameters of any waste management plan, quantitative estimation of healthcare waste generation is essential. Most researches on quantitative estimation of healthcare wastes to date, have not addressed the differences in waste generation trends between the government and private healthcare sectors. This study was carried out to estimate the hazardous healthcare waste generation from private healthcare sector of Bangladesh; with a future aim do the same for government healthcare sector. A total of 50 privates healthcare facilities of different categories from Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were selected for this study following a random sampling technique. Secondary data was obtained from PRISM Bangladesh (PRISM Bangladesh Foundation is a non-profit voluntary development organization established in 1989. In the context of environmental management, PRISM Bangladesh operates in different areas of Bangladesh with the assistance and support of UN organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNDRO and UNCDF.) for these 50 healthcare facilities and personal visits to waste treatment sites were made. The estimated the hazardous healthcare waste generation rate for the private healthcare sector was found to be 0.17 kg bed-1 day-1 on per patient per day basis and an overall of 6796 kg daily. The estimated waste quantity and the proportion of hazardous healthcare waste to total healthcare waste was found to vary significantly due to different parameters related to the type and size of healthcare facility, seasonal variation etc. Based on the findings of this research, more accurate strategic planning of waste management systems for developing countries can be established by governments and municipal authorities to reduce the epidemiological risks.

Generation and composition of medical wastes from private medical microbiology laboratories

A study on the generation rate and the composition of solid medical wastes (MW) produced by private medical microbiology laboratories (PMML) was conducted in Greece. The novelty of the work is that no such information exists in the literature for this type of laboratories worldwide. Seven laboratories were selected with capacities that ranged from 8 to 88 examinees per day. The study lasted 6months and daily recording of MW weights was done over 30days during that period. The rates were correlated to the number of examinees, examinations and personnel. Results indicated that on average 35% of the total MW was hazardous (infectious) medical wastes (IFMW). The IFMW generation rates ranged from 11.5 to 32.5g examinee−1 d−1 while an average value from all 7 labs was 19.6±9.6g examinee−1 d−1 or 2.27±1.11g examination−1 d−1. The average urban type medical waste generation rate was 44.2±32.5g examinee−1 d−1. Using basic regression modeling, it was shown that the number of examinees and examinations can be predictors of the IFMW generation, but not of the urban type MW generation. The number of examinations was a better predictor of the MW amounts than the number of examinees. Statistical comparison of the means of the 7PMML was done with standard ANOVA techniques after checking the normality of the data and after doing the appropriate transformations. Based on the results of this work, it is approximated that 580 tonnes of infectious MW are generated annually by the PMML in Greece.

Assessment of Medical Waste Management in Private Hospitals

Recent happening globally especially in the developing country such as Nigeria has shown that there is need to conduct a survey on medical waste management due to direct or indirect adverse effect on the environment and human health. The medical waste management in private hospitals in Lagos State was assessed. Information on hospitals was collected from Lagos State Ministry of Health, Aluasa. Nine hospitals were visited and questionnaires and schedules were administered on the current status of medical waste management such as hospital generation information, waste amount, separation, collection, temporary storage and training.Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that the total medical wastes were 207.16 Kg/day. Of the total medical wastes produced in studied area in one day, 119.07 Kg consisted of hazardous-infectious wastes, 85.91 Kg municipal wastes and 2.18 Kg sharp wastes. The average generation rate of total medical waste was 1.14 ± 0.2 Kg/bed-day. However, these rates were 0.72 ± 0.01 Kg/bed-day, 0.47 ± 0.01 Kg/bed-day and 0.01 ± 0.002 Kg/bed-day for hazardous-infectious, municipal and sharp wastes respectively. The percentages of hazardous-infectious wastes, municipal wastes and sharp wastes were 60.00%, 39.10% and 0.83% respectively. The hospitals waste management was evaluated poor in terms of separation, collection, transportation, temporary storage and training aspects and good in the treatment aspect.

Development of a method for classification of hospitals based on results of the diagnosis-related groups and the principle of case-mix index

This research used DRGs and CMI to adjust medical waste production through the calculation of DRGs and CMI scores. These scores were used to assess the performances of teaching hospitals in Damascus. The linear correlations between these scores and the annual amount of waste and DRGs values were studied. The differences between the daily waste generations before and after the adjustment process were determined. Accordingly, the highest values of DRGs and CMI Scores were for the pediatric and Al Assad hospitals respectively. Among the teaching hospitals in Damascus, Al Assad has achieved the highest performance. Based on the results, the accuracy and homogeneity of medical waste generation rates were improved, which in turn leads to continuous improvement in the management of medical wastes.

Hospital Waste Management in Ondo State South West Nigeria

This study investigates the waste management practices in some selected hospitals in the densely populated regions of Ondo state. Five (3 public and 2 privates) hospitals were assessed, wards ranges from 2 to 10 and number of beds ranges from 12 to 84. The study shows complete absence of medical waste tracking, monitoring and testing programme in all the hospitals. In addition, institutionalized medical waste management plan were also absent from all the hospitals, only one had an abatement facility in form of mini-incinerator. However, open dump sites were seen within some of the hospital premises. Medical waste generation rates ranged between 0.38kg/bed/day and 0.97kg/bed/day to 0.7kg/bed/ward/day and 4.38 kg/bed/ward/day, while on average, a generation rate of 0.676kg/bed/day and 2.51kg/bed/ward/day were obtained. More so, it was also observed that numerous kinds of wastes generated were not separated into different bins but disposed in the same refuse bins. The most predominant methods of waste treatments practiced at the hospitals were burning and deep burial. All hospitals and other medical institutions in the state engage the services of the state government waste disposal board for their final collection and disposal of waste as there are no private waste contractors in the state.

Comparison of hospital medical waste generation rate based on diagnosis-related groups

In recent years, a wider range of people and organizations have paid increasing attention to the potential harm from medical waste. Medical waste-generation assessment is the first step in the continuing improvement of hospital medical waste management. The results could be used for planning, budgeting, cost controlling, and optimizing waste-management systems. It also provides an opportunity to compare with other hospitals. Because medical waste-generation rate is not a homogeneous indicator without considering the differences of the hospital's scale, type, specialization, technical level, quality, and efficiency, people cannot simply use the generation rate to compare performance between hospitals. A way to adjust the indicator before comparison is needed. This study collected data of annual quantity of medical waste, number of beds, inpatient occupancy rate, number of diagnosis-related groups, and case-mix index. The medical waste generation rate, diagnosis-related groups score, case-mix index score, and adjusted generation rate were calculated. The comparisons were conducted by dividing included hospitals into groups according to level and affiliation. Before adjustment, level 3 hospitals had higher generation rate than level 2 hospitals; hospitals subjected to district health bureaus had lower generation rate than hospitals subjected to Ministry of Health and Beijing Health Bureau. After adjustment, level 3 became the lower one. The group of Ministry of Health was still the highest; the lowest one changed from group of district health bureaus to group of Beijing Health Bureau. It shows the relations between diseases' coverage, complexity a hospital treated and medical waste generation. Although the effects on generation rate by medical activities in outpatient department need to be studied further, and the application is limited by the support of a full equipped hospital information system and a sound quality control of clinical data, it is still a simple and operable tool to compare the performance of hospital medical waste management.

Medical Waste Management System: An Alarming Threat (A Case Study on Jessore Municipality, Bangladesh)

Medical waste has a dangerous effect on environment. The mismanagement of it may be a significant risk factor for diseases transmission, in developing countries. This factor rose up with the increasing generation rate of medical waste. The study was conducted from October to December 2012 on one public hospital, twelve private hospitals and clinic and seven diagnostic centres of Jessore municipality of Bangladesh, where there has been no rigorous estimation of medical waste generation on the basis of scientific way. The study includes generation rate, existing management system and problem of medical waste. A convenience random sampling technique was followed to collect data. Actual measurement was done by digital weight machine to know about waste generation from the different sections of HCE’s and a pre - structured questionnaire about the existing medical waste management. Visual field observation was also done to acquire the actual information. The research focused on the average generation rate of the studied HCE’s was 1.59 kg/bed/day, 0.49 kg/patient/day and 0.11 kg/test/day. The generation rate in public hospital was 2.02 kg/ bed/ day, 0.49 kg/patient/day and 0.133 kg/test/day. The generation rate was 1.36 kg/bed/ day, 0.54 kg/patient/ day and 0.086 kg/test/day and 0.33 kg/patient/day and 0.168 kg/test/day in private clinic and diagnostic centre respectively. Result prevailed that unsat isfactory management practice observed on the basis of environmental safety. Adequate amount of selected colored dust bin, regular monitoring, arrangement of training, regular assessment of HCEs by government through the specialist, implementing of rules and regulations will be needed for improving existing medical waste management in the study area. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jesnr.v6i2.22115 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 6(2): 181-189 2013

Introducing a new medical waste tracking and classification system for Jordan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a cradle to grave manifest system for medical waste in Jordan. As part of this program, medical waste classification, generation rates, and tracking in different parts of the world and in Jordan are described. Design/methodology/approach – After reviewing different classification systems, the program adopted the World Health Organization definition with minor modification to be used with the proposed manifest, as it is very similar to the current bylaw regulating medical waste in Jordan. In addition, the generation rates of hazardous medical waste in 11 public hospitals and one governmental university hospital in the northern part of Jordan were calculated. These were based on the weights of these wastes that were transferred to the sole incinerator used by these hospitals over a 12-month period. These weights were obtained through interviews with personnel in charge of the medical waste incinerator. Findings – This project has devised a manifest form to be used for medical waste transport. In addition, the generation rate was found to vary from 0.88 to 3.05 kg/bed/day based on 100 percent occupancy rates. The generation weight was found to be different for different months of the year. Originality/value – Management of waste disposal and treatment, including medical waste is very important in a water poor country like Jordan. The introduction of a manifest system and the adoption of a medical classification system, in addition to the calculation of the generation rates are very important for sustainable development in the country.

Estimation of Current and Future Generation of Medical Solid Wastes In Hanoi City, Vietnam

Management of medical waste is of great importance due to its infectious and hazardous nature that can cause adverse impacts on human health and environment. The objectives of this study were to estimate the current generation of medical solid waste and its existing management practices in Hanoi city, Vietnam. This study also aimed at providing the predictions for future generation of medical solid waste that could serve as scientific basis for planning of medical waste management in Hanoi city. Based on the collected secondary data, the analyses indicated that the generation rate of total medical waste (including normal and hazardous medical waste) is 0.86 kg/bed.day, in which the generation rate of hazardous medical waste is 0.14 kg/bed.day. The major problem associated with existing management practices of medical waste is the treatment and disposal stage. There are no official recycling activities for normal medical waste at present although its legal basis has been setting up in the Medical Waste Management Regulation in 2007 issued by Ministry of Health. With respect to the treatment of hazardous medical waste, incinerators-the major applied technology are being operated inefficiently. For overcoming these obstacles, the local government and relating agencies need to put more effort, in terms of financial and human resources, in facilitating the official recycling activities for normal medical waste and developing more environmentally-friendly alternative treatment technologies for medical waste, towards the gradual replacement of unnecessary incineration. The study predicted that in 2020 and 2030, the quantities of total medical waste generated in Hanoi city would be 30.44 and 46.05 tons/day, respectively which 1.7 and 2.6 times higher than those in 2010. This would be challenging the local government in managing medical waste generated in the future.

Assessment of Waste generation in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Assessment of Health Care Waste generation rate in Ulaanbaatar 1Enkhjargal G, 1Nandinerdene B, 2Jan-Gerd K 1Depertment of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, HSUM 2ETLog Health, Consulting LTD, Germany Background. Healthcare activities protect and restore health. At the same time they generate large quantities of wastes that need to be managed safely and disposed properly. Aim : We aimed to assess the medical waste generation rates, the available reports on medical waste picked up by the medical waste disposal company from healthcare facilities in UB were collected and evaluated. Results: The result of collected data analysis showed that in average 48,66 ton of medical waste was collected and treated by the company per month. The waste generation rate is not linear but is fluctuating between 40 and 60 tons per month, with a higher generation rate during the second part of the year. The majority of about 45% of the total medial waste stream is generated by the tertiary level hospitals managed by the MoH and in average 30% is generated by secondary level hospitals under the control of City Health Department. Primary level healthcare facilities (>100 in UB City) produce only about 3% of the total medical waste and the rest of 22% of medical waste is generated by the nearly 900 private healthcare facilities. The analysis of the collected data showed a total medical waste generation of about 50 tons per month in Ulaanbaatar. Conclusion: While ¾ of the waste is produced by governmental owned hospitals, about ¼ is generated by private healthcare facilities, for the future it can be expected that the share of the waste from private healthcare facilities will increase. The average waste generation rate in a typical secondary or tertiary level general hospital was about 0,25 kg per occupied bed and day. Primary level healthcare facilities produce about 20-40 kg medical waste per month, the share within the total medical waste is minor with about 3-8%.

Statistical predictors of hazardous medical waste generation rates in a 40-bed general hospital

Objective of the work was to investigate correlations among hazardous medical waste generation rates and various hospital parameters in 2 departments and a clinic of a 40-bed Hellenic general hospital (Hospital of Ikaria). Medical waste was recorded at the bio-pathology lab, the pathology clinic and the emergency department 4 times daily during a 42 sampling day period (from December 2008 to May 2009). The hospital parameters recorded on a daily basis were the number of examinees, the number of patients that occupied beds and the number of tests performed daily at the clinical bio-pathology laboratory. The dependent variable was the medical waste generation rate (kg day-1) in all cases. Statistically significant linear correlations were established in all departments; the strongest correlation (R2≈0.75) was calculated at the clinical bio-pathology laboratory and the weakest (R2=0.30) at the emergency department. An analysis of variance (Tukey’s t-test) and a nonparametric statistical test revealed that medical waste generation rates from the clinical biopathology laboratory were statistically lower in the weekends compared to weekdays. In addition, medical waste amounts generated by the pathology clinic were statistically lower during December and January compared to February and April.

Medical Waste Management: A Case Study of the Souss-Massa-Drâa Region, Morocco

Medical waste management is of major concern due to the potentially high risks to both human health and the environment caused by inadequate waste management practices. In Morocco, as in many developing countries, little information is available regarding generation handling, and disposal of medical waste. The specific objective of this study was to analyse the medical waste management practices in the Souss-Massa-Draa region, Morocco. The study was carried out in seven of the twelve hospitals in the region, covering 66.2% of the bed capacity. A total of 219 healthcare personnel and their assistants were included: 35 doctors, 98 nurses, and 86 housekeepers. Site visits, interviews, and survey questionnaires were implemented to collect information regarding different medical waste management aspects, including medical waste generation, separation, collection, storage, transportation, and disposal. The results indicated that the medical waste generation rate ranged from 0.4 to 0.7 Kg/bed-day with a weighted average of 0.53 Kg/bed-day. The percentage of infectious and hazardous wastes in the total medical waste stream was about 30.5%. The remaining 69.5% was general wastes similar in properties to municipal wastes. Concerning waste separation, housekeepers demonstrate a slightly higher knowledge about waste separation, with 49.4% of correct answers, with nurses at 45.7%, and doctors the lowest value at 38.6%. The results about other management aspects indicated that practices in most surveyed hospitals did not comply with the principles stated in Moroccan legislation. Based on the findings, some measures are suggested to improve the present conditions and ensure that potential health and environmental risks of medical waste are minimized.

Hazardous medical waste generation rates of different categories of health-care facilities

Goal of this work was to calculate the hazardous medical waste unit generation rates (HMWUGR), in kgbed−1d−1, using data from 132 health-care facilities in Greece. The calculations were based on the weights of the hazardous medical wastes that were regularly transferred to the sole medical waste incinerator in Athens over a 22-month period during years 2009 and 2010. The 132 health-care facilities were grouped into public and private ones, and, also, into seven sub-categories, namely: birth, cancer treatment, general, military, pediatric, psychiatric and university hospitals. Results showed that there is a large variability in the HMWUGR, even among hospitals of the same category. Average total HMWUGR varied from 0.012kgbed−1d−1, for the public psychiatric hospitals, to up to 0.72kgbed−1d−1, for the public university hospitals. Within the private hospitals, average HMWUGR ranged from 0.0012kgbed−1d−1, for the psychiatric clinics, to up to 0.49kgbed−1d−1, for the birth clinics. Based on non-parametric statistics, HMWUGR were statistically similar for the birth and general hospitals, in both the public and private sector. The private birth and general hospitals generated statistically more wastes compared to the corresponding public hospitals. The infectious/toxic and toxic medical wastes appear to be 10% and 50% of the total hazardous medical wastes generated by the public cancer treatment and university hospitals, respectively.

Analysis of the measured medical waste generation rate in Tanzanian district hospitals using statistical methods

In this study the medical waste generation rates at Amana and Ligula hospitals were measured and analyzed. The rate of medical waste generation is high; about 2,250 kg/day in Amana and 2,500 kg/day in Ligula hospital. The waste generation rate per patient per day is also high about 1.8 (Amana) and 2.0 (Ligula) kg/patient.day. The daily medical waste generation rate is not constant, and fluctuates randomly. About 6 to 10% of waste generated is left uncollected. Eight medical waste categories were measured and compared: general waste, pathological waste, radioactive waste, chemical waste, infectious waste, sharps waste, pharmaceutical waste, and pressurized containers. The results indicated general waste to have high generation rate while others waste types such as chemical and radioactive wastes have low generation rates. Due to differences in generation rates, the data was normalized in order to compare statistical parameters used to assess medical waste generation rates. The statistical parameters used include: range, skewness, kurtosis, probability density functions and histograms. The study revealed that management of medical waste is still facing critical problems and requires skilled health workers, appropriate technologies and suitable equipment for collection, storage and transportation. The study will enable hospitals to understand trends in variations of medical waste generation and accommodate fluctuations in their plans and budgets. Key words: Measured medical waste in selected Tanzania district hospitals, variations of waste generation, average waste generation, waste collection efficiency; range of waste generation, normalized waste generation