3. Results
3.1. Waste production and production rate
The waste generated at medical establishments in Taiwan consisted of infectious and general medical wastes. Table 2 shows that the annual average amount of infectious waste generated yearly was the highest (267.8 Tons) at medical centers, accounting for 17.2% of all medical wastes. The annual average infectious waste production was 3.8 times higher than that by regional hospitals. However, the average amount of infectious waste generated daily per bed was the highest at local hospitals (0.88 kg/bed/day), followed by medical centers, regional hospitals and the least at independent clinics (0.19 kg/bed/day). Only 6.6% of all wastes generated from the independent clinics were infectious. Table 3 shows the annual amount of infectious wastes generated by clinical departments at a regional hospital in Taipei area. The dialysis clinic disposed the largest amount of infectious waste, approximately 0.739 kg/bed/day