This is the second edition of the WHO handbook on the safe, sustainable and affordable management of health-care waste--commonly known as "the Blue Book". The original Blue Book was a comprehensive publication used widely in health-care centers and government agencies to assist in the adoption of national guidance. It also provided support to committed medical directors and managers to make improvements and presented practical information on waste-management techniques for medical staff and waste workers. It has been more than ten years since the first edition of the Blue Book. During the intervening period, the requirements on generators of health-care wastes have evolved and new methods have become available. Consequently, WHO recognized that it was an appropriate time to update the original text. The purpose of the second edition is to expand and update the practical information in the original Blue Book. The new Blue Book is designed to continue to be a source of impartial health-care information and guidance on safe waste-management practices. The editors' intention has been to keep the best of the original publication and supplement it with the latest relevant information. The audience for the Blue Book has expanded. Initially, the publication was intended for those directly involved in the creation and handling of health-care wastes: medical staff, health-care facility directors, ancillary health workers, infection-control officers and waste workers. This is no longer the situation. A wider range of people and organizations now have an active interest in the safe management of health-care wastes: regulators, policy-makers, development organizations, voluntary groups, environmental bodies, environmental health practitioners, advisers, researchers and students. They should also find the new Blue Book of benefit to their activities. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the various types of waste produced from health-care facilities, their typical characteristics and the hazards these wastes pose to patients, staff and the general environment. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce the guiding regulatory principles for developing local or national approaches to tackling health-care waste management and transposing these into practical plans for regions and individual health-care facilities. Specific methods and technologies are described for waste minimization, segregation and treatment of health-care wastes in Chapters 6, 7 and 8. These chapters introduce the basic features of each technology and the operational and environmental characteristics required to be achieved, followed by information on the potential advantages and disadvantages of each system. To reflect concerns about the difficulties of handling health-care wastewaters, Chapter 9 is an expanded chapter with new guidance on the various sources of wastewater and wastewater treatment options for places not connected to central sewerage systems. Further chapters address issues on economics (Chapter 10), occupational safety (Chapter 11), hygiene and infection control (Chapter 12), and staff training and public awareness (Chapter 13). A wider range of information has been incorporated into this edition of the Blue Book, with the addition of two new chapters on health-care waste management in emergencies (Chapter 14) and an overview of the emerging issues of pandemics, drug-resistant pathogens, climate change and technology advances in medical techniques that will have to be accommodated by health-care waste systems in the future (Chapter 15).

A rapidly growing population, industrialization, modernization, luxury life style, and overall urbanization are associated with the generation of enhanced wastes. The inadequate management of the ever-growing amount of waste has degraded the quality of the natural resources on a regional, state, and country basis, and consequently threatens public health as well as global environmental security. Therefore, there is an existent demand for the improvement of sustainable, efficient, and low-cost technologies to monitor and properly manage the huge quantities of waste and convert these wastes into energy sources. Innovative Waste Management Technologies for Sustainable Development is an essential reference source that discusses management of different types of wastes and provides relevant theoretical frameworks about new waste management technologies for the control of air, water, and soil pollution. This publication also explores the innovative concept of waste-to-energy and its application in safeguarding the environment. Featuring research on topics such as pollution management, vermicomposting, and crude dumping, this book is ideally designed for environmentalists, policymakers, professionals, researchers, scientists, industrialists, and environmental agencies.

Biosafety in the Laboratory is a concise set of practical guidelines for handling and disposing of biohazardous material. The consensus of top experts in laboratory safety, this volume provides the information needed for immediate improvement of safety practices. It discusses high- and low-risk biological agents (including the highest-risk materials handled in labs today), presents the "seven basic rules of biosafety," addresses special issues such as the shipping of dangerous materials, covers waste disposal in detail, offers a checklist for administering laboratory safetyâ€"and more.

Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.

Healthcare facilities, medical laboratories and biomedical research facilities generate large amounts of biomedical waste. Poor management of the waste can cause serious health and environmental hazards. This book aims to cover the latest technologies and innovations for sustainable management. It covers bioremediation processes, plastic waste recycling, and metal recovery. It also discusses waste monetization, such as conversion into energy.

COVID-19 in the Environment: Impact, Concerns, and Management of Coronavirus highlights the research and technology addressing COVID-19 in the environment, including the associated fate, transport, and disposal. It examines the impacts of the virus at local, national, and global levels, including both positive and negative environmental impacts and techniques for assessing and managing them. Utilizing case studies, it also presents examples of various issues around handling these impacts, as well as policies and strategies being developed as a result. Organized into six parts, COVID-19 in the Environment begins by presenting the nature of the virus and its transmission in various environmental media, as well as models for reducing the transmission. Section 2 describes methods for monitoring and detecting the virus, whereas Sections 3, 4, and 5 go on to examine the socio-economic impact, the environmental impact and risk, and the waste management impact, respectively. Finally, Section 6 explores the environmental policies and strategies that have comes as a result of COVID-19, the implications for climate change, and what the long-term effects will be on environmental sustainability. - Examines the fate, transport, and management of COVID-19 and COVID-19 related waste in the environment - Explores a variety of issues related to the environmental handling and impacts of COVID-19, particularly utilizing case studies - Offers tools and techniques for assessing real-time environmental issues related to COVID-19

Introduction Twentieth century is a century of the greatest phenomenon in terms of growth and development of human existence at an accelerated rate of change. Intellect and technology could contribute to the immense change in terms of materialistic wellbeing, economic growth, education, healthcare etc. At the same time, the same phenomenon could contribute to over exploitation of resources, pollution, population explosion, ecological imbalance, conflict and warfare with sophisticated technology, disease and distress. Healthcare is an important area of human care. The very process of modern healthcare is also ridden with risk and unhealthy practices. One of this is Bio Medical Waste generation in treatment of human beings; apart from other species. This Bio Medical Waste generation warrants proper Bio Medical Waste management.

Effective waste management practices are essential to mitigate unfavourable impacts and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This book covers perspectives addressing the Sustainable Development Goals through analytical and case studies on municipal and biomedical waste management. It consists of ten selectively curated highly technical chapters covering various aspects of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through applying effective waste management strategies and practices through practical case studies and examples. Features: Analysis of over 30 real-life case studies reviewed from local as well as global perspectives Discusses application of technologies in real time Addresses the 17 Sustainable Development Goals at ground level Covers a broad range of case studies on municipal solid waste and biomedical waste treatment and management Reviews the latest evidence-based approach in diagnosis and management This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in environmental engineering and management.