Investigating infectious healthcare waste management at a university dental clinic

The following abstract is part of the collection for the Planetary Health Annual Meeting 2025.

ABSTRACT

Background: Infectious healthcare waste (IHW) contribute significantly to the environmental burden of healthcare institutions. Aim of this study was to assess and compare the composition of daily generated IHW and waste segregation awareness among clinical specialists’ (STR) and clinical educational treatment rooms (ETR) at the dental clinic of Semmelweis University Faculty of Dentistry, with special focus on single-use plastics (SUP) and personal protective equipment (PPE) used in patient care.

Methods: Three waste audits were conducted in 2023 to quantify and analyze the complete daily production of IHW generated during dental care. Collected clinical waste has been analyzed and categorized; fractions were weighed using kitchen scales. Measurement data of the three audits were summarized and averaged. Independent samples t-test (significance level: p<0.05) was used to compare waste quantities among STRs and ETRs.

Findings: The average daily amount of IHW generated in the dental centre weighed 59596 g in total and 93 g per patient. The heaviest fractions were medical gloves, paper towels and disposable patient bibs (22197g, 12107g and 5673g, respectively). Discarded PPE and SUP used in patient care were responsible for 57% (34154 g) of the total IHW weight. Significantly more IHW is produced per patient in ETRs compared to STRs (p=0.007).

Interpretation: Excessive use of SUP and PPE in dentistry, together with overproduction, inappropriate collection and/or mismanagement of dental IHW has negative planetary health consequences. Switching to reusable, sterilizable utensils, implementing sustainable procurement and circular economy strategies, and educating stakeholders about proper waste disposal may help mitigate these effects.