Tracking how health care waste is produced, processed, and recycled has never been easier. Health Care Without Harm and HECAF360, Health Care Without Harm’s strategic partner in Nepal, developed six tracking tools for health care facilities to understand and control their waste management.
Each tracker is specially designed for a different stage of the waste management process, and they may be filled in by different people playing different roles in a hospital or health system. Optimized for daily data entry, the tracker produces clear summary tables and graphs that a waste manager, waste management committee, or facility director can quickly view to assess their performance and make informed decisions to improve.
Two of the tools, the waste generation and waste disposal trackers, have versions which link to the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) Hippocrates data center to generate data needed for entry into the GGHH waste data form.
- The first tracker is for a baseline assessment or waste audit, to collect data for 14 types of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes over the course of a week. The baseline assessment tool summarizes the amounts of waste and, if the value of recyclable wastes are known, it will also estimate the potential annual income from selling them.
- The second is the good practice checklist. With this easy-to-use checklist, waste managers or ward staff can record the presence and condition of essential equipment like bins and needle cutters, and assess waste segregation.
- Number three is a waste generation tracker to be completed by staff responsible for the area where waste is brought for treatment or disposal. The daily amounts of different types of waste are added up over each month and the entire year. Members of the GGHH network can use the “simple” version of this tracker to generate data for entry into the Hippocrates data portal.
- The fourth tool is an autoclave operation log that shows the amounts of waste treated and the results of routine efficacy tests. Graphs illustrate the number of passed and failed tests, so an engineer can see at a glance if the autoclaves are operating as expected and whether the machines are working at maximum capacity.
- The fifth is the waste sales tracker. When properly segregated, many waste streams, such as paper and plastic, glass, and aluminum can be recycled. Instead of paying for their disposal, facilities can earn money from selling them, and recover the costs of running the waste management system. This tracker format can also be used as an invoice, simplifying administration and financial record keeping.
- Number six is a waste disposal tracker. This adds up the amounts of waste sent to different waste disposal routes, such as municipal landfills, incineration, or recycling. This tool was designed for facilities working to reduce the amount of waste incinerated or sent to landfills. Members of the GGHH network can use the “simple” version of this tracker to generate data for entry into the Hippocrates data portal.