Issues in managing medical and infectious waste: strategies for local jurisdictions

Increased publication focusing on problems with the nation's solid waste stream has prompted inquiries into the policies and strategies implemented to manage these problems. Within the larger context of issues in solid waste management there is the heightened public awareness regarding questions of how medical waste are regulated in this country. Public demands for governmental action in the areas of generation, handling, and disposal of medical waste have surfaced during the past few years, especially since the summer of 1989 in which a series of incidents involving infectious and non-infectious medical waste were discovered washed up on the shores of New Jersey, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Maricopa County, Arizona, not unlike many other local jurisdictions in the country has been on the receiving end of this increased concern and the ensuing scrutiny placed on the management of medical waste. This paper looks at the issue of medical waste management at the local/county level utilizing Maricopa County as a case study. The focus of this paper is to address medical waste management in Maricopa County by identifying any inherent problems with the current system and by developing a methodology and determining estimates of the quantity of medical waste generated. -from Authors