The composition was almost the same in the two hospitals, with
mean values in the following decreasing order: general
waste (60.74%) > medical waste (30.32%) > sharps
(8.94%). Both hospitals offer inpatient services that are
high. This explains why generated waste is high because
of food related services. In a survey conducted by Mato
and Kassenga (1997) in hospitals in Dar es Salaam, the
percentage of generated waste was found to be lower as
many hospitals were offering outpatient services. However,
in a study conducted by Patil and Shekdar (2001)
on the health care waste management in India, the proportion
of general waste was reported to be high because
inpatient services were offered most. The percentage of
general waste ranged from 50.46–88.31%, with a mean
value of 71.37%. The mean value of medical waste (infectious,
pathological and chemical) was 27.85%. For sharps,
the percentage ranged from 0.41–1.42%, with mean value
of 0.78%. These percentages are in agreement with the
results of this study, except for sharps which were found
to be much higher.
Results of individual compositions of medical waste
were approximations in some cases because of occasional
instances during which these types of waste were missed
during collection since the same color coded containers
are used, especially mixing of chemical waste with other