Medical waste management in Primorsko-Goranska county, Croatia

Sooner or later in today’s modern society almost everything (materials, objects, etc) became waste. According to the new law in Croatia (2007), medical waste is waste that is produced during health protection of people or animal and/or similar scientific researches (including waste from kitchens and restaurants which is not derived from directly applied health protection). Medical waste is classified as: non-hazardous inert, which is similar to public municipal waste (paper, glass, food remains, etc) and hazardous. Hazardous waste is divided in: infectious waste, chemical waste, sharp objects, cytotoxics and cytostatics, amalgam waste and other hazardous waste. The law also differ: small source of medical waste, which produce 200 kilograms or less per year and is not obligated to make a plan of medical waste management and big source, which produce more than 200 kilograms per year and is obligated to make a plan. Based on the Report of Croatian Ministry of Environmental protection in 2005, it can be estimated that Croatia produces about 13.2 millions tons of waste per year (about 3 tons per citizen per year) and the total amount of medical waste is about 10,064 tons per year (86% non hazardous and 14% hazardous). There is no information about medical waste, which is produced during health protection of animal neither in Primorsko-goranska County or Croatia. In the Strategy of Waste Management of Croatia (2005) it is estimated that the total amount of hazardous medical waste for Primorsko-goranska County is 104,5 tons per year. In the final assessment in management of medical waste for Primorsko-goranska County we can evaluate that: complete information about medical waste in not known, information about medical waste, which is produced during health protection of animal is outside the surveillance system and finally waste management in Primorsko-goranska County is not entirely coherent with regulations.