ABSTRACT
Each year approximately 500,000 tons of regulated medical waste is produced in the United States by about 375,000 generators. For comparison, about 229,000,000 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated annually (see Table 1.3). The majority of medical waste is generated during the administration of healthcare or research by medical institutions and home healthcare activities. The institutions generating most of the medical waste include hospitals, laboratories, physicians, dentists, veterinarians, long-term healthcare facilities, clinics, blood banks, and funeral homes. The majority (approximately 77%) of regulated medical waste, however, is generated by hospitals. Most of the remaining classes of generators produce relatively small quantities ( 23 kg or 50 lb per month) of regulated medical waste (U.S. EPA et al., 1991). The estimated number of generators in each of these categories and volumes of waste generated are presented in Table 20.1.
