Determinants of compliance with healthcare waste management regulations by European private healthcare facilities

Abstract

Healthcare units generate substantial amounts of hazardous or potentially hazardous wastes as by-products of their medical services. The inappropriate management of these wastes poses significant risks to people and the environment. Within the countries of the European Union (EU), the management of HCW is strictly regulated by law. Measures pertaining to the collection, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste are construed to ensure that the waste management process takes place in conditions that protect the environment and human health. Despite the growing awareness by legislators that compliance with the applicable regulations is essential to achieve the best environmental protection, little is known about the compliance of the increasingly large numbers of private EU outpatient healthcare facilities with these measures. Using a large survey of over 700 private outpatient healthcare facilities in the EU, this study finds that overall compliance with the law is far from ideal, and identifies important sources of variability in compliance behavior with each of the measures comprising the HCW legislation.