Safe Management of Healthcare Waste
The old definition of clinical waste widely used in both the healthcare and waste management industry was the “Groups A to E” classification system. However, it was felt that this system no longer reflected current segregation or disposal requirements.
Waste traditionally referred to as “clinical waste” was re-classified as hazardous based on the risk of infection. This essentially meant that any substance that “poses a known or potential risk of infection, regardless of the level of infection” was to be treated as infectious clinical and therefore hazardous waste.