Author(s)

Sineenart Puangmanee & Moltiya Jearanai

Abstract

Solid waste (SW) management at government health centers (GHCS) is necessary to reduce pollution, especially in the rural areas. although, the government health centers have guidelines to control and manage solid waste, some areas are weakly regulated and poorly managed. government health centers in the countryside are far from waste management and disposal technology. This paper reports on the solid waste management at six government health centers along the Southern andaman coast of Thailand and aimed to study the types and quantities of waste storage, collection, transportation, and disposal. The results found that solid waste was separated into non-hazardous waste (NHW, general and domestic waste) and hazardous waste (hW, infectious waste and hazardous waste). The percentages of domestic waste and general waste were 90% and 10%, respectively. The percentages of infectious waste and hazardous waste were 91% and 9%, respectively. moreover, the rates of general and domestic waste from all government health centers were 0.01 and 0.04–1.30 kg/person/day, respectively. The average rates of hazardous waste and infectious waste produced were 0.02 kg/person/day and 0.01–0.09 kg/person/day, respectively. Non-hazardous waste was kept in black or translucent plastic bags inside plastic or stainless-steel or rubber bins. hazardous waste was usually put in black plastic bags inside a plastic bin and sometimes no plastic bag was used. Infectious waste was kept in red plastic bags inside plastic or stainless-steel bins. Infectious sharp waste was put in yellow or red sharps bins or puncture proof containers without covers. expired drugs were put in plastic baskets without bags. On-site waste collection was performed by staff personnel at each government health center and off-site disposal of non-hazardous waste was collected by employees of sub-administrative organizations that moved waste for disposal by municipal truck to open dumps. hazardous waste including infectious waste and expired drugs was transported from a district hospital by pickup truck. Infectious waste was later sent for incineration and expired drugs were returned to the suppliers. The transport workers wore unsuitable clothes. although the waste materials were basically controlled and managed by the guidelines, handling of the waste was incorrect and ineffective. Therefore, solid waste management from top-down needs to strictly practice the guidelines according to the laws for a better environment.

Keywords

management, solid waste, government, health center.