Healthcare waste generation in hospitals per continent: a systematic review.

There are increasing worldwide concerns about the negative impacts of healthcare waste generated in hospitals, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Hazardous type of waste can contribute to adverse effects both in human populations and the environment because of its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. A comprehensive view on increasing waste in the world has not been conducted to understand the breadth of the issue; thus, this paper sought to provide an analysis of hospitals' healthcare waste generation rate.

Full scale composting of food waste and tree pruning: How large is the variation on the compost nutrients over time?

The aim of the study was to evaluate if a composting unit on a commercial scale can produce, during 15 months, an organic compost according to the guarantees and tolerance margins required by Brazilian legislation for its nutrient content. For this, a food and tree pruning waste compost produced in a composting unit located in Belo Horizonte (Brazil) was evaluated. Noncompliance regarding tolerance margins for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were 3, 17 and 28% on a dry matter basis and 19, 31 and 33% on a fresh matter basis.

Minimizing laboratory waste and improving material reuse through chemical waste exchange: Case of a Brazilian institution.

Concern over the management of chemical wastes from laboratories has been gaining importance since the 1990s. For a good management of chemical wastes generated from laboratories, it is recommended that managers encourage an environment of cooperation and exchange, thus reusing chemical reagents. The institution under study implemented the Chemical Waste Exchange, whose objective is to capture reagents past their expiry dates that would be discarded and make them available internally to other areas or even to other institutions.

Pharmacopollution and Household Waste Medicine (HWM): how reverse logistics is environmentally important to Brazil.

Pharmacopollution is a public health and environmental outcome of some active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDC) dispersed through water and/or soil. Its most important sources are the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare facilities (e.g.