This study investigated the hospital waste management practices used by eight randomly selected
hospitals located in Damanhour City of El-Beheira Governorate and determined the total daily generation
rate of their wastes. Physico-chemical characteristics of hospital wastes were determined according to
standard methods. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire to collect information about the
practices related to waste segregation, collection procedures, the type of temporary storage containers,
on-site transport and central storage area, treatment of wastes, off-site transport, and final disposal
options. This study indicated that the quantity of medical waste generated by these hospitals was
1.249 tons/day. Almost two-thirds was waste similar to domestic waste. The remainder (38.9%) was
considered to be hazardous waste. The survey results showed that segregation of all wastes was not
conducted according to consistent rules and standards where some quantity of medical waste was
disposed of with domestic wastes. The most frequently used treatment method for solid medical waste
was incineration which is not accepted at the current time due to the risks associated with it. Only one of
the hospitals was equipped with an incinerator which is devoid of any air pollution control system.
Autoclaving was also used in only one of the selected hospitals. As for the liquid medical waste, the
survey results indicated that nearly all of the surveyed hospitals were discharging it in the municipal
sewerage system without any treatment. It was concluded that the inadequacies in the current hospital
waste management practices in Damanhour City were mainly related to ineffective segregation at the
source, inappropriate collection methods, unsafe storage of waste, insufficient financial and human
resources for proper management, and poor control of waste disposal. The other issues that need to be
considered are a lack of appropriate protective equipment and lack of training and clear lines of
responsibilities between the departments involved in hospital waste management. Effective medical
waste management programs are multisectoral and require cooperation between all levels of implementation,
from national and local governments to hospital staff and private businesses.