4.4. Waste production from various specialties
The study found that waste production varied with quantities and types of services/specialties provided by the hospital. At medical centers, the three largest sources of infectious wastes were found to be surgical operation, dialysis and laboratory services. In regional hospitals, dialysis, the analytical laboratory, ICU, the pathological laboratory, and internal medicine were major sources of infectious wastes. However, surgery remains the unit with the highest production rate per day per bed. To our knowledge, the prevalence of end stage renal disease requiring diagnosis in Taiwan is rather high (BNHI, 2004). In comparison, regional hospitals have become important establishments to provide patients with dialysis services. Dialysis is a medical specialty using a large amount of disposable materials in the care process, which rapidly increases the amount of waste (Shaprio et al., 2003).