For both medical and government entities, waste management is a crucial issue. Hospitals, research facilities, and laboratories are all examples of places where “health care wastes” are found. This system, which is also known as healthcare waste management or medical waste management, is in charge of sorting and disposing of the hazardous waste generated in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Health care institutions are not exempt from the worldwide trend of increasing waste (Kaza et al., 2018). Because it includes infectious and toxic substances, health care waste may pose a threat to both persons and the environment. In order for patients to get medical treatment and rehabilitation in a safe setting, waste must be properly disposed of. Healthcare facilities must have effective waste management policies in place to handle the issue of contagious and environmentally harmful medical waste.

The reputation and security of a healthcare facility might be jeopardised if proper waste management standards are not followed (Nangbe, 2018). Several forms of medical waste pose threats to people and the environment if they are not handled appropriately or controlled, including infectious materials, chemical waste, obsolete medications, radioactive products, and sharp things (old syringes, surgical instruments, etc.). Attempts have been made in the current study to identify and address key areas of concern regarding the growing issue of medical waste and to establish a comprehensive understanding of the aspects of biomedical waste and how UK national hospitals are affected by this problem.

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives

The main aim of the research is “to demonstrate what types of waste are created in the hospitals located in UK, and how they are detrimental to human health, and hospitals cash flow.” The research’s main objectives are as follows:

To learn more about how waste management in hospitals affects UK hospitals and their clients.

To gain a better understanding of how the UK hospital waste management system may be made more efficient.

To provide light on the logistics of waste management in UK hospitals and how the process works.

To determine how well healthcare workers, grasp the rules and regulations around the disposal of biological waste.

To understand how UK people, see the need of properly managing biological waste.

1.3 Research Questions

It is intended that the proposed study answer the following key questions:

Q.1) What exactly is the waste management concept? In the context of UK hospitals and healthcare facilities, why is this so critical?

Q.2) What are the long-term consequences of a hospital’s poor waste management system?

Q.3) How might the waste management system at a typical UK hospital be made more efficient?

Q.4) What is the logistics involved in UK hospitals’ waste management systems?

Q.5) Why is it necessary to educate healthcare workers about safe trash disposal?

Q.6) What is the significance of directing the hospital’s resources and attention to waste management?

Q.7) What can UK hospitals do to help reduce pollution by implementing efficient hospital waste management programmes?

Q.8) How can inadequate hospital waste management contribute to a rise in the occurrence of infections among UK citizens?

1.4 Research Rationale

Medical technology has made significant strides in recent years. Wearable gadgets are already often used to monitor blood sugar levels and administer insulin. People may be able to modify DNA in the future after removing genetic defects with molecular scissors. Even Nevertheless, there is a growing problem of waste management in the global healthcare industry. According to the World Health Organization, 16 billion injections are given each year throughout the world without proper disposal facilities in place. It is not just the general public’s health that is at danger as a result of this clinical waste, whether directly or indirectly through the release of pathogens and toxic pollutants (Rodić and Wilson, 2017). Toxic exposure to antibacterial and cytotoxic medications as well as radioactive burns and sharps-inflicted wounds are only a few of the dangers associated with medical waste. Therefore, it is vital to assess the severity of the problem and the knowledge of healthcare facilitators about the best strategies to address it.

It is vital to determine the effects of waste on patients and the techniques that must be done in order to ameliorate the situation, as well as curative approaches, in order to provide appropriate solutions for the problem. An understanding of hospital waste management and logistics operations as a support to systems is critical when evaluating these components. The goal of this study was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these variables by developing a comprehensive conceptualization of them. As a result, this justification spectrum has formed the foundation for all of the study.

1.5 Research Significance

Human activity produces waste as an unavoidable result. Before industrialization and the advent of huge urban regions, this was not a serious worry as human populations were so scarce and transitory. Poor waste management resulted in the contamination of water, land, and air. This has a major impact on the general public’s well-being. There has been a significant increase in the amount of trash being deposited in landfills due to lifestyle changes and new chemical compounds in healthcare facilities (Malinauskaite et al., 2018). It is hard to quantify the long-term health effects of exposure to toxins at clinical garbage disposal sites. Furthermore, the introduction of the Covid-19 has exacerbated the problem of waste management. The inappropriate or inadequate handling of medical waste can have a significant impact on the environment and pose a serious hazard to public health. This pandemic has heightened awareness of the need of healthcare waste management.

Each year, the United Kingdom produces 100 million tonnes of solid trash, 85 per cent of which is dumped in landfills in England and Wales (Singh and Sinha, 2022). The potential of these locations has been linked to environmental and health issues in the past. Disposal mechanisms for clinical waste include a number of factors, including social, logistical and legal ones. The importance of this issue and the most effective techniques for managing it, as well as ensuring the proper and safe disposal of these wastes, necessitate detailed research on these areas.

1.6 Research Structure

It has been established in this first chapter that there are a number of underlying factors that must be addressed.

According to the data gathered from literary sources, the research topic has been established in the Literature review portion of the paper.

Data gathering methods and analysis procedures are shown in the third section of methodology.

The findings chapter is where the research methodologies are put to use to arrive at specific conclusions.

The discussion chapter analyses previously discovered data using proper analytical methods in order to arrive at an accurate result on the issue that is in line with the research’s fundamental goals and objectives.

As a last chapter of the conclusion, major results are summarised and ended with reasons, as well as a set of suggestions to support the study findings.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Overview

It’s not uncommon for hospitals to produce a lot of garbage. Hospital departments create healthcare, residential, and administrative waste, and the final product is a combination of all three. Health care waste includes sharps and pathogens as well as chemical, expired, and radioactive items (Khobragade, 2019). It is possible that these products pose a health and environmental risk. It is described as dangerous medical waste in this piece. Non-hazardous healthcare waste includes things like medicine boxes, medical product packaging, food leftovers, and office rubbish.

It is the administrative staff of the hospital, and every unit and individual of the healthcare team that work there, who are all accountable for the correct disposal of hospital waste. The first step is to collect medical waste at the point of generation and separate it from other non-hazardous rubbish in color-coded containers at the point of collection and separation (Verma, 2019). Using designated carts, hospitals should have a mechanism in place to transfer hazardous medical waste. Dedicated utility facilities should be used for storing goods and services. On-site and off-site treatment alternatives for hazardous medical waste are available, and they comprise a variety of various procedures. Personnel who deal with this waste should get considerable training.

2.2 Different Classifications of Hospital Waste Products

The term “medical waste” was coined by Baral et al. (2017), and it encompasses all trash created by healthcare activity, including medical waste. As stated by Shehzad (2018), it encompasses any chemical that may come into touch with the body through diagnostic testing, research, drug delivery, or any other sort of therapy.

They are extremely contagious or infectious, and they are frequently contaminated with body fluid contamination. In addition to medical waste, this umbrella term may also comprise general medical waste and/or specialist medical waste (Shehzad, 2018)). Hospitals generate around 5 million tonnes of garbage every year, according to estimates. According to Baral et al. (2017), each hospital bed creates around 29 pounds of rubbish every day. The absence of effective recycling and waste management solutions in any healthcare facility is a major problem. Atadjanova (2019) observe that, despite the fact that “medical waste” and “medical waste disposal” are widely used interchangeably, each country has its own method for recognizing and categorizing medical waste. The following are the most frequently used concepts, ranked by frequency of occurrence:

2.2.1 Medical waste in the UK

The UK Government categorises the many forms of medical waste:

Offensive Waste	Non-infectious waste includes sanitary and diaper waste.
Domestic or municipal waste	Non-clinical general waste
Anatomical Waste	Human and animal waste includes organs, body parts, and blood bags (Yanli, 2019).
Contagious Waste	Individual treatment waste that was tainted with infectious biological fluids (ÜNAL, 2020)
Cytotoxic / Cytostatic Waste	harmful or cancer-causing drugs and other forms of treatment that are cytostatic or cytotoxic in nature (Yanli, 2019).
Medical Waste	Medicines, tablets, and creams that are neither cytotoxic or cytostatic are available.

2.2.2 Classification by World Health Organisation (WHO)

Gopinath et al. (2017) provide WHO standards for dealing with various forms of medical waste.

General/Other Garbage	Waste that isn’t dangerous to human health is included in this category. These wastes have not been contaminated to infectious agents, toxic chemicals, or radioactive substances as a result of their removal from the environment. Paper, cardboard, and plastics commonly make up non-hazardous general waste (Alrawi, Amin and Al-Ani, 2021).
Sharps	Items that may cause wounds or punctures, even if they are not contagious, should be avoided. One or more of the following examples: a range of sharp devices, such as scalpels and other edged instruments, infusion sets and pipettes used during surgery, among other things (Gopinath et al. 2017).
Pathological Waste	Anyone can donate their blood, tissue, and other bodily fluids. This includes people and animals. (Alrawi, Amin and Al-Ani, 2021).
Chemical Waste	The most typical sources of liquid waste are machinery, batteries, and disinfectants, all of which are flushed down the toilet (Zamparas et al., 2019). Hazardous waste is defined as chemicals that exhibit one or more of the following characteristics: Acids and bases with pH values less than 2 and greater than 12 are regarded as corrosive substances. Acids and bases that are flammable and have pH values greater than 12 are deemed hazardous. “Formaldehyde,” “glutaraldehyde,” “photographic fixing and developing solutions,” “laboratory solvents,” “pesticides,” “mercury in thermometers and sphygmomanometers,” “disinfectants (phenols and bleach),” and “toxic cleansers,” “degreasers” are among the hazardous chemical wastes (Gopinath et al. 2017).
Genotoxic Waste	Toxic waste that has the potential to cause cancer, mutagenesis, or teratogenicity is classified as
Polluted Waste	Any waste that is infectious or polluted is considered polluted waste. (Woolridge and Hoboy, 2019)
Pharmaceutical Waste	Pharmaceuticals that have been used or expired, such as ointments and tablets It is made up of abandoned items that were used in the “handling of medicines” such as “bottle or box remnants,” “gloves,” “masks,” “connecting tubing,” and “medication vials.” It is also made up of wasted things that are used in the “handling of medicines” (Zamparas et al., 2019).
Radioactive Waste	Waste that may include radioactive elements is classified as radioactive waste. Solid, liquid, and gaseous materials contaminated with radionuclides include “sealed radioactive sources,” “low-level waste” (swabs, vials, and so on), “residues,” low-level radioactive wastewater from washing, “excreta from patients treated or tested with unsealed radionuclides,” and “body fluids from patients receiving radiation treatment,” to name a few (Woolridge and Hoboy, 2019).

2.3 Waste Segregation

To segregate medical waste, developed nations utilise color-coded and tagged bags or containers, according to the authors (Srinilta and Kanharattanachai, 2019). In developing countries, waste streams are divided into bags or containers that are labelled and color-coded according to local customs and regulations. There is, however, a diversity in the manner in which the standards are applied from one location to another. It is necessary to solve issues such as the absence of effective source separation, the lack of colour coding, and the lack of records pertaining to “waste composition” and amount (Sharma et al., 2020). As a result, pharmaceutical waste and domestic rubbish are thrown together in landfills at the same time. Occasionally, sharps are not separated from the rest of the waste in particular facilities.

Hazardous waste materials like as human organs and radioactive objects may be mixed in with municipal rubbish as a result of paramedic staff incompetence. Because of these circumstances, there is a “lack of colour coding,” “lack of record keeping,” and “staff neglect” that lead to insufficient segregation protocols at hospitals in developing countries. Because of a lack of source segregation in the hospital waste management system, hospital waste management staff and scavengers may be at danger of needle stick injuries (Adu et al., 2020). It is possible that people will get hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), or HIV if they already have one of these illnesses. Proper segregation can help to avoid the spread of these illnesses. Source segregation can also reduce the quantity of rubbish that has to be burned, allowing hospitals to save both energy and money as a result.

2.4 Health Hazards Caused by Hospital Waste

Several studies, including Behnam (2020); Ali et al., (2017), have found that hospital waste and by-products can cause the following serious health consequences:

Interaction with potentially dangerous chemicals such as antibiotics and cytotoxic medications that are released into the environment during the disposal or burning of medical waste, in addition to other compounds such as dioxins that are discharged into the environment

Sharps-related injuries are a serious problem.

Hazardous wastes

Radiation burns are a type of burn.

Chemical burns incurred during the course of disinfection, sterilisation, or waste treatment procedures

Thermal injuries received when burning publicly or while running incinerators that burn medical waste are classified as “thermal injuries”

Air pollution induced by the release of particulate particles during the combustion of medical hazard materials

According to World Health Organization (2016), around 16 billion injections are administered worldwide each year. Aside from removing any potential sources of illness or harm, we’ve also left enough of the instruments behind to allow them to be reused if necessary. In recent years, regulations on the re-use of injected needles and syringes have contributed to a reduction in the number of poisoned injections in low- and middle-income nations. According to MOHAPATRA, MISHRA and DASH (2017), improper injections were responsible for 1.7 million new cases of “hepatitis-B,” 315 000 new cases of “hepatitis-C,” and 33800 new cases of “HIV” in 2010.

According to Coppola (2016), the odds of obtaining “HBV,” “HCV,” or “HIV” from a needle-stick injury produced by a patient who is being used as an infected source are 30 percent, 1.8 percent, and 0.3 percent, respectively, if the patient is infected with HBV, HCV, or HIV. As a result of the handling and physical sorting of hazardous objects in health care institutions, there are also worries about the environment surrounding waste disposal sites. However, these inclinations are more prevalent among those who live in low- and middle-income countries, with the majority of the world’s population being susceptible to them. Among the dangers that waste administrators have to deal with on a daily basis are sharp objects, poison, and infectious contaminants. In 2015, 58 percent of the 24 locations selected for a “WHO/UNICEF” study had adequate safe disposal practises, according to the report (Chand et al., 2020).

2.5 Trainings and Awareness

In developing countries, all waste management personnel are obliged by law to get ongoing training in environmentally friendly practises. Due to the fact that hospital waste management is not considered a core economic activity, such services are frequently restricted to a limited number of institutions with an even smaller (or non-existent) personnel (Kumar, Somrongthong and Ahmed, 2016). The dangers of “chemical inhalation” or “skin exposure” are therefore unknown to healthcare experts. Consequently. “Needle injuries” that went unreported and unregistered were just as widespread as they had been in the past (Amer, 2019). Hospital waste, such as expired drugs, is additional concern that has to be handled by the general public and healthcare providers. The same is true for municipal personnel who transport hospital rubbish off-site and may not be familiar with hazardous waste management regulations or procedures. It is essential that all stakeholders in the healthcare setting – patients, hospital staff, visitors, and garbage disposal workers – are aware of the dangers associated with incorrect waste management and treatment (Hangulu and Akintola, 2017). It is worth emphasising that even developed countries have had difficulty in altering the behaviour and actions of medical professionals to be more environmentally conscious. As a result, it is vital to compare the training’s stated objectives with the actual results on a regular basis.

2.6 Waste Storage

Storage of hospital waste is often regulated to be done in correctly labelled rooms (Chartier et al., 2013). The storage areas must have access to fresh air, water, and sewage. This is an area that should be off limits to workers and clearly designated with caution signs. Residential rubbish should be collected and stored in separate portions of the storage facility. In more advanced nations, waste is frequently sorted at the source and stored in properly labelled storage chambers. Cleaning the site and containing spillage are also subject to regulatory regulations (Townend et al., 2009). Safe storage facilities for medical wastes have been established in several impoverished countries.

On the other side, many hospitals do not have properly labelled rubbish containers and storage facilities. Another issue is the poor condition of the containers and the lack of cleaning of the containers (Bazrafshan and Kord Mostafapoor, 2011). Storerooms may also hold other items, such as cleaning supplies. In some hospitals, the absence of interior storage chambers leads on the rubbish being deposited in nearby open landfills or uncultivated ground (Manga et al., 2011). When trash cans aren’t cleaned until they’re completely full, contamination of the onsite garbage cans is possible because some don’t have lids.

2.7 Environmental Impact of Hospital Waste

Healthcare waste handling and disposal can expose patients to pathogens and toxic chemicals, which can lead to health concerns. If medical waste disposal facilities are not properly planned, they can harm drinking water, surface rivers, and soil streams (Gutberlet and Uddin, 2017). Chemical disinfectants used to sterilize medical waste can be discharged into the environment if they are improperly handled, stored, or disposed of. Every day, “high-income nations” produce up to 0.5 kilogrammes of hazardous waste per hospital bed, but “low-income countries” only produce 0.2 kilogrammes of hazardous waste per hospital bed each day. Due to the lack of trash sorting in low-income nations, the actual volume of hazardous waste generated is significantly greater (Ali et al., 2017). Waste incineration releases airborne pollutants and creates ash deposits due to its extensive use. However, rubbish incineration remains a common practise.

Chemically treated materials can release dioxins and furans, which have been linked to a variety of health issues. Banerjee et al. (2019) have proposed that metals including lead, mercury, and cadmium (among others) may be cremated, releasing dangerous levels into the environment. According to Meleko and Adane (2018), present incinerators do not meet dioxin and furan emission guidelines since they operate between 850°C and 1100°C. With adequate money for operation and maintenance of the incineration methods available, autoclaving, microwaves, and internal mixing are all feasible possibilities. Steam treatment can minimise chemical or hazardous emissions, therefore this should be taken into account.

2.8 Waste Transportation

Medical waste transportation in Europe is governed by the “ADR” regulation, which oversees the transfer of hazardous waste by road (World Health Organization, 2015). An online monitoring system collects data on the type of garbage, the source of the trash, the transporter, and the treatment facility for medical waste in industrialised countries like Korea (Jang et al., 2006). A licenced carrier must transfer the rubbish. There are other ways hospitals in these countries move soiled and clean garbage, too (Marinković et al., 2008). In developing countries, the transportation of waste is managed in a number of ways. In some cases, hospital staff may be required to transfer patients both on and off the premises. Private enterprises can transfer the garbage both on and off-site.

Hospital workers may transport patients to and from the hospital, while independent contractors may transport patients to and from the hospital. Additional off-site transportation for hospital staff may be provided by the local government under appropriate conditions (Manga et al., 2011). Insufficient push wains/trolleys that might lead to leaks and accidents, as well as the transportation of rubbish in vehicles that aren’t suited for the job through residential neighbourhoods, have all been noted in numerous studies (Haylamicheal et al., 2011). An internet monitoring system, similar to that utilised in industrialised nations like the United States, can be used to transport and monitor medical waste.

2.9 Waste Disposal and Resale

In developed countries, medical waste is disposed of in a number of methods. Incineration, autoclaving, land filling, recycling, electron beam technology, and bioconversion are just a few of the methods that can be utilised. They can also be combined in any way. Medical landfills have been phased out in various countries to minimise environmental impact, including Germany, Slovenia, and Portugal. It has becoming increasingly popular in wealthy countries like Korea to burn hospital trash off-site rather than bury it. As a result, local residents are wary of the idea of dumping these toxins in the ground. In a developing nation, there may be a wide range of waste disposal systems in use at different hospitals in the same location. Garbage can be disposed of at a landfill or in a crematory (Abd El-Salam, 2010). In certain cases, the hospitals themselves incinerate their own waste.

Depending on the situation, towns may be held liable for disposing of waste (Farzadkia et al., 2009). Only a few of the options available for waste disposal include irradiation, steam and gas sterilisation, thermal inactivation, and chemical disinfection. Hospital waste is either “autoclaved” or “chemically disinfected” before being disposed away. Hospitals with the competence to do such decontamination are rare and far between (Manga et al., 2011). Burning rubbish or dumping it by the side of the road are two common practises at open land fill sites (Zhang et al., 2013). These places, which are commonly situated adjacent to people’s houses, are easily accessible to stray animals. When “pharmaceutical” and “chemical” wastes are flushed down the toilet, they constitute a risk to the environment because of the chemicals they contain.

In addition, hospital garbage is being illegally sold and recycled. Poorer countries’ incinerators have been proven to be of poor quality, according to several studies (Bazrafshan and Kord Mostafapoor, 2011). Despite its widespread use, incineration has come under fire because of the pollution it causes and the additional expenses it entails to implement emission controls. Low-cost waste disposal methods such as Pyrolysis have been touted as a way to dramatically reduce waste volume while simultaneously generating electricity. Research into cost-effective and ecologically friendly waste disposal alternatives is needed.

2.10 Hospital Waste Management Approach

Source isolation, along with other strategies like waste minimization, can help reduce these pollutants’ impact on the environment. To appropriately dispose of hospital waste, follow the steps shown in the diagram below.

All hospital staff must first be thoroughly instructed on proper waste disposal methods. Workloads will be decreased due to waste minimization and avoidance. Everyone in the organisation must be made aware that keeping the workplace clean and healthy is ultimately their duty as well. Most patients should be maintained apart from infected sanitation workers as much as possible. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) should be emphasised throughout training (Makajic-Nikolic et al., 2016). In order to prevent the mixing and leaking of waste, nurses and other paramedics should be instructed. Kitchen scraps and abandoned plastic bottles may be composted, while paper and cardboard can be sold to recyclers for money (Unger and Landis, 2016).

This income can be used to cover a portion of the hospital’s trash collection expenditures. Garbage should be kept out of the wards and patients’ rooms. All hazardous waste components must be properly handled and disposed of. There are various countries where the deceased’s body parts are placed in the ground to mark their journey into heaven. Prion-infected tissue must be treated with chemicals such as sodium hydroxide under stress or with a unique technique such as Pyrolysis, which is a chemical approach. Medical waste, including discarded prescriptions and items that have been exposed to the air, such as old bedding, gloves, and clothing, should be incinerated instead being dumped (Askarian, Momeni and Danaei, 2013). Disposing of pharmaceutics should be done the same way. Each month, the amount of non-hazardous pharmaceuticals that can be dumped down the toilet is limited. Returning pharmaceutical trash to pharmacies instead of dumping it in a landfill is the best option (Dias-Ferreira, Valente and Vaz, 2016). In the case of shattered glass, a method of steam sterilisation and subsequent recycling is available. It is necessary to use the proper treatment methods when dealing with sharps that are radioactive or cytotoxic.

Figure: Hospital Waste Management Approach

(Sources: Ali et al., 2017)

To name a few of the most commonly seen forms of chemical waste, old batteries and mercury waste are two of the most typical examples. The ideal way of treating these items is diluting them on site or having them collected up by OEMs or recyclers. Radioactive waste is defined as anything contaminated with radionuclides. According to Krauskopf (2013), these items should be placed in “led containers” and then recovered by the appropriate government authority for treatment using “membrane technology” or “deep underground burial.” For this reason, mixed materials including cotton dressings, clothes, and apparatus that have been contaminated with patient waste should be eliminated. However, pyrolysis with energy recovery instead of incineration might be used as an environmentally acceptable way of disposal. All hospital waste water must be filtered before it can be sent to the main sewage system. “Reverse osmosis,” “membrane bioreactors,” and so on are among the many examples (Kovalova et al., 2013). Most hospitals in developing nations cannot afford many of these procedures. Pharma and chemical waste pollution of waste water can be minimised by disinfection.

Chapter 3: Methodology

3.1 Chapter Overview

During the execution and achievement of the full study of this investigation, the scholar has employed and applied several sorts of strategies inside this study. Usually, the main objective of the methodology chapter is to determine notable and relevant knowledge and information about the application of diverse philosophy, approach, design, sample, data gathering procedure, data analysis procedure and reliability and validity of the research. In this element, the researcher has presented the most vital and effective facts and data for the employed and accomplished approach for the efficient completion of the study.

3.2 Research Philosophy

The fundamental goal of research philosophy is to design a technique for combining data in order to get at a theoretical diagram, which is the final goal of research philosophy. Having accurate deductions that are accepted as legitimate in various regions of the globe is crucial to the expansion and acceptability of information around the world. When it comes to carrying out this examination, the interpretative viewpoint of study has been determined to be the most successful strategy (Žukauskas, Vveinhardt and Andriukaitienė, 2018). The interpretative paradigm recognises that truth is “multi-layered” and changeable, and that a problematic situation may be interpreted in a variety of ways. Researchers employ a range of methodologies, including as surveys and interviews, to get a better understanding of how individuals view and react to their social environments.

It is easy to have an incorrect image of social reality under the Interpretivism school of thought, according to certain scholars. A number of features of social life have been discovered by the researcher via the application of the Interpretivism philosophy, as well as several strategies for re-creating the problem’s distinctive qualities. It is necessary to do research when understanding the audience’s point of view is deemed to be the most important aim (Abu-Alhaija, 2019). As a result, it has been shown that the interpretative paradigm is advantageous in grasping the fundamental concepts of human philosophy in particular. To the best of the understanding, this huge model will be the most suited for the inquiry under consideration.

3.3 Research Approach

The development of a structured approach that incorporates multiple methodologies and strategies as well as phases of comprehensive hypothesis testing for evaluating the entire collection of data, assessment, and interpretation phases while incorporating a research strategy are all feasible with the proper tools and resources. Furthermore, the information gathered from secondary sources indicates that qualitative methodologies are most appropriate for this investigation. This is a promising development. It is the collection and evaluation of non-numerical data that allows the discovery of multiple points of view, viewpoints, and experiences in qualitative research (Frew et al., 2018). In particular, it is intriguing to see how qualitative information has been used to get a more complete knowledge of the situation and to propose the most up-to-date solutions.

As part of this study, the primary emphasis will be on evaluating and defining the sort of connection that will be necessary in order to reach a virtual target audience. The use of a rational method to research has demonstrated to be quite beneficial to the researcher in the past. This is not the first time that the same corporation has been the subject of research, so this is not a recent concept (Mohr, Riper and Schueller, 2018). The suggested study has been used to get a comprehensive understanding of the digital marketing approach implemented with the client’s chosen organisation, which has been accomplished via the collection of a large volume of high-quality data.

3.4 Research Design

To create an effective study, the researcher uses a predetermined framework of several market research approaches and a small number of essential tactics. Depending of the design chosen, the researcher may utilise any methodologies that are best relevant for the inquiry. The systematic research design method was used in this qualitative study in order to complete the work as rapidly as possible (Dannels, 2018). It is possible to examine more than one aspect at a time using case study research design, allowing for a wide range of research methods to be used.

This study’s methodology must be thoroughly examined in order to ensure that the results are credible and compelling. Since it was simpler to identify patterns and behaviours across study participants using an explanatory design, it was ultimately chosen for use in this study. As a consequence, information about a respondent’s attitude or viewpoint on the occurrence may be obtained (Bloomfield and Fisher, 2019). It has shown to be a very effective method for gaining a full understanding of the customer and analysing the methods and plans that have been executed in order to strengthen social networks and target audiences.

3.5 Research Sampling

When a researcher is looking for volunteers who can provide a wealth of data on the subject matter, deliberate sample may be seen as “chosen” or “purposive.” To engage in a qualitative research project, individuals must meet a set of preconditions. As an instance, a learner who wishes to discover what current nurses believe about leadership tactics in a certain hospital environment may do this. For this post, a registered nurse must be in good standing and be able to operate in a certain hospital setting, as indicated in the one-sentence explanation. Other criteria, like years of expertise and the quality of one’s nursing education, will be used to determine who is eligible to compete (Cash et al., 2022). An instance of a qualitative research strategy for locating subjects who are both accessible and known to the researchers is shown below. It is often required to take benefit of geographical benefits and assets that simplify the process of hiring new employees.

A teacher might contact teachers in their area and urge them to engage in study to find out what they think regarding a policy change. To further their search for answers, a professional who joins to a professional association might use the personal data provided by its members. To profit from any of these situations, researchers would first have to get a licence (Campbell et al., 2020). The great bulk of qualitative researchers employ sample methods such convenient sampling or sampling techniques to acquire data for their study. Purposive sampling was used in this study, which is an important point to make when addressing qualitative research.

3.6 Data Collection Process

Using data from reputable sources, the researcher is able to finish the study ahead of schedule. Secondary data may be found in a variety of places online and can be accessed immediately and readily by researchers. It is possible for the researcher to accomplish the investigation fast and effectively since so many scholars have already done extensive study on this firm. According to this theory, secondary data might be useful in determining the strategies and tactics used to extend digital networks and reach the target customers. Secondary research is a cost-effective and time-saving strategy for scholars because of the many benefits it provides (Chen, 2021). It is possible to utilise secondary data to detect flaws or holes in the research and to determine whether or not the study’s basic criteria were satisfied. With this strategy, primary data may be analysed in more detail. Using this strategy helps to get a better understanding of the subject matter. Researchers might use this as a yardstick for their own work.

Inclusion Criteria

The researcher has accessed the sources only which are related to the waste management in hospitals. In order to enhance the authenticity of the study, the researcher has collected the from the medical journals, which are written on UK hospitals and their waste management system.

Exclusion Criteria

The researcher has not accessed any irrelevant data sources. The vague sources and papers which are written on US or any other international perspective for managing wastes in different sectors or in hospitals have not been undertaken for this study.

3.7 Data Analysis Process

Using numerical or logical ways to effectively show, condense, and consolidate information is what data analysis is all regarding, according to the definition. As has been widely discussed, researchers have discovered that this data analysis strategy is useful in compressing information into a storey and then evaluating it to get insight into the topic matter under investigation. It has really been decided to apply the case study assessment approach in order to conduct an objective examination of the information that has been gathered (Assarroudi et al., 2018). While case study assessments are important for documenting methods, they are also considered as being important activity in their own right.

An assessment of an occurrence or business is often carried out in order to compile a set of suggestions for further actions or growth. Researchers have uncovered a number of benefits to using this sort of data analysis, which have the potential to make the study more effective. It also provides an opportunity for a more in-depth understanding of a hard-subject topic as well as a personalised approach, which is clearly seen as compared to learning that involves large groups of individuals (Elliott, 2018). As a consequence, this kind of data analysis has shown to be useful in providing focused information and supporting the scholar in achieving the study’s objectives in a timely manner.

3.8 Ethical Consideration

Another key aspect of the study offered here is its consideration of ethical concerns. This is perhaps the most significant aspect of the research provided here. The lack of this component might potentially be a contributing factor to the loss of research publications. In order to take part in the survey, the responder must have granted their consent beforehand. In order to get the intended result, it is necessary to follow ethical rules while organising a research project. Whenever a major aim is being pursued, it is crucial that professionals conform to particular moral and ethical norms of behaviour. The data in this study is situational, which means that the researchers gathered and examined data from past studies conducted by other specialists before conducting their own (Cammaerts, 2020). At the university library, learners may access a huge variety of books, periodicals, and other resources that are available for use. The “intellectual property rights” of the authors were taken into consideration, and the work was properly attributed.

Regardless of the fact that the study was based on previous academics’ work, it was unrivalled in terms of originality. Overall, the work was deemed to be unique across the review procedure as a consequence of this. It is critical that the data from the research be properly examined in order to ensure that the results reached are valid. As per the prosecution’s historical background, the information included in this document is correct. Throughout the testing time, students should. This research has already covered the topic of how numerous companies have encountered difficulties in their advertising operations when trying to gather truthful data and make comparative evaluations of the functionality of different software testing techniques, which has been debated in greater depth elsewhere (Thabrew, Sawyer and Eischenberg, 2018). Over the course of the study’s assessment, the researchers made every endeavour to assure the information and sample acquired were indicative of the study’s larger scope.

3.9 Summary

Throughout the conduction of the complete study of the research, the researcher has likely employed and used several kinds of resilient and effective approaches by contemplating the successful achievement of the entire research. In this aspect, the “interpretivism philosophy”, “inductive research methodology”, “systematic review research design method”, “purposive sampling”, “secondary qualitative data gathering procedure” and “content analysis technique” have been employed and utilized inside this study of the research by the researcher.

Chapter 4: Findings

4.1 Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management Sector

The method in which a community generates and manages trash is crucial to its capacity to make optimal use of available resources. While a wide range of initiatives is needed to make Europe’s economy more resource-efficient and circular, improving waste management at the community scale in Europe offers a significant chance to save resources (Dri et al., 2018). This paper outlines a set of best practices that might be adopted widely based on an in-depth examination of the activities taken by industry leaders in waste management. BEMPs or best environmental management practices are aimed at assisting municipalities and waste management corporations in their transition to a circular economy. Attempting to set a waste management strategy, encouraging waste minimization, constructing an effective waste collection structure that provides recyclability, and encouraging waste preparation for reuse and product reuse are the areas of waste management that have the greatest impact on overall waste management performance.

Additionally, certain facets of waste management are addressed. Construction and demolition trash, as well as garbage generated in healthcare facilities, are included in the BEMPs, although their primary focus is on municipal solid waste management (Dri et al., 2018). Environmental performance indicators and criteria for achievement are also included in the study, so that organisations may evaluate their waste management performance and track their development. A whopping 39% of Europe’s rubbish is created in just these three (Germany, France and the UK) countries alone. From the above-mentioned categories, the health care area needs much focus as it contributes a large volume of trash and needs a proper strategic perspective to resolute the issue.

As it pertains to the diagnostic, treatment, and immunizations procedures for both people and animals and the creation of biological materials for scientific study, healthcare waste encompasses all of these activities (Dri et al., 2018). There is a huge amount of healthcare waste that is deemed harmful because it may include chemical compounds and pathogens that need specific management. Medical facilities also create other types of waste, and these will be evaluated based on their content or function.

Waste created by clinical practices is hard to record in a numerical way, hence statistics on healthcare waste is often based on:

Infectious waste

anatomic;

There are numerous medications on the market

materials containing radioactivity;

“offensive/sanitary trash”

MSW-like Waste.

In addition to medical centres, nursing homes, physicians’ offices, dentists, pharmacies, and vet services also produce this kind of waste. Public parks, first aid and public bathrooms in public locations, and retail or hospitality establishments are examples of smaller generators (Dri et al., 2018). However, because of the diverse methods used to separate the garbage, it is impossible to accurately estimate the proportion of non-hazardous waste (which might range from 40% to 60% of the total) and MSW-like waste.

The proper disposal of hazardous trash is essential (Dri et al., 2018). The UK government’s Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (Department of Health, 2007) defines “a certified safe [therapy] as a recognised technique or procedure that:

a. to the point where no further precautionary measures are required to protect employees or the community from infectious disease by the waste;

b. eliminates anatomical wastages so that it is no longer readily identifiable;

c. makes all medical waste (including machinery and sharp objects) useless and unrecognisable as medical wastes; and

d. decimating the element chemical compound

BEMPs for healthcare waste segregation

Potentially major environmental impacts may be reduced by improved waste minimization, separation, and processing of non-hazardous medical waste (HCW), with careful attention for security. According to the paper, certain BPMEs for healthcare facilities encompass,

Organize waste audits at healthcare institutions to better understand the different waste components and existing waste management strategies.

Offer assistance to hospitals in defining their waste management strategy to make it apparent which types of garbage need to be sorted, and then how to follow those instructions strictly.

Health care workers should be educated on proper waste segregation and how to dispose of it.

Provide medical institution workers with instructional materials (posters, labels on containers, etc.) to assist them in their duties.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) may be used to evaluate the outcomes and implications of the activity.

Reduce the overall environmental effect of the waste management system by using new technological solutions, such as the re-use of vessels for the collection of HCW.

All these practices are deemed beneficial to aid healthcare waste management. “Waste audits and training provided by SRCL, UK” is an excellent instance of a waste management approach where the focus has been given on auditing and staff training. These two are placed at the core of waste management and safe disposal (Dri et al., 2018). In a nutshell, the paper has indicated a range of practices that caters for the environmental needs and also aid the concerned departments on the measures that can reduce the waste comparatively with certain practices.

4.2 Can We Create a Circular Pharmaceutical Supply Chain (CPSC) to Reduce Medicines Waste?

There has been an upsurge in the number of pharmaceutical waste medications over the world. The Circular Economy is a pharmaceutical supply chain ideology that attempts to improve waste reduction, enhance the benefits of medications, and ensure long-term sustainability (increasing circularity). Circularity methods for medicines are not presently adopted in many nations, owing to health and reliability hurdles. Circular economy ideas were used in this research to see whether pharmaceutical waste might be reduced and the pharmaceutical supply chain made more sustainable (Alshemari et al., 2020). Circular economy ideas were used in the study of pharmaceutical handling and disposal; a full narrative literature assessment was done in this paper. Unwanted pharmaceuticals such as expired, unutilized, spilt or contaminated medicines and vaccines are referred to as pharmaceutical waste by the World Health Organization (WHO). They should be discarded in a proper manner. Growing patient and prescription numbers, as well as overconsumption and excess manufacturing, are the primary causes of a rise in pharmacological waste volume. Medication scarcity, increasing pharmaceutical waste percentage, and increased disposable expenses are all caused by a rise in the number of unwanted, outdated, and lost medications (Alshemari et al., 2020). This is a developing worldwide challenge that requires a comprehensive solution.

Prescription drugs approved by the NHS in the UK are squandered every year to the extent of £300 million, according to research. The UK spends a large portion of its pharmaceutical budget on waste. Every 25 pounds spent on pharmaceuticals results in a loss of £1. In addition to the $300 million, there are an estimated 90 million medications sitting unsold in residence at any one moment. Prescriptions are being returned to pharmacies at a cost of over £110 million per year (Alshemari et al., 2020). The NHS disposes of around £50 million worth of leftover medications from care homes each year. Taxes paid by residents and corporations in the United Kingdom are used to pay for the country’s healthcare system.

The expense to the government of providing healthcare services to the citizens of the nation is increased by pharmaceutical waste. Pharmacological waste that is generated as a consequence of patients failing to take their prescribed drugs, therefore, necessitates a rise in the overall cost of the therapy Increased amounts of unwanted and expired pharmaceuticals add to waste and cause pollution and increase in resource allocation.

Because of present restrictions, several nations, including the UK, do not allow unused or returned drugs to be reused or entered into the PSC (Alshemari et al., 2020). Improved waste management may be accomplished by increasing the efficiency of manufacturing, inventory control, resource use/consumption and resource efficiency along the supply chain. As a result, facilities have to implement new waste management strategies that include all essential resources, particularly staff training; monitoring and evaluating trash produced; and, start taking care of all actions that are likely to produce trash. As a result, better waste separation is essential for limiting the amount of trash that has to be handled and ensuring that each treatment process only gets waste that is suitable for the process being treated.

In order to decrease waste and increase efficiency in the manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals, a computerized track and trace system would give real-time data to assist in these processes (Alshemari et al., 2020). The implementation of the CE and its accompanying principles may help reduce waste in the pharmaceutical supply chain from a holistic viewpoint. Because of their positive environmental and economic effects, reusing and recycling medications may help minimise pharmaceutical waste. However, their implementation has to be further refined and approved by financial and political agencies, as well as by all members of the supply chain.

4.3 Standards of Clinical Waste Management in UK Hospitals

This research paper documents the results found from the 2006 published research which bears the priority for hospital waste management observations and research from back then when the awareness regarding medical waste was anticipated to be lower. In this research, 26 hospitals throughout London and the rest of southern England were visited, each with the sole purpose of gathering information on the overall performance of their large-scale waste management systems (Blenkharn, 2006). Undisclosed visits were made between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. The only purpose institutions were included in the research was because of their geographical area. It was only possible to conduct surveillance in locations open to the public, such as the hospital grounds, access roads, parking lots, and hallways. Bulk medical waste carts were used, as were storage solutions for them. The presence and usage of cart lid locks, as well as the position of cart storage, were both observed.

Central cart storage and security measures to prevent the garbage from being accessed by unauthorised persons were documented, as were the locations and uses of satellite cart storage places. The overall number of carts in use was determined by observing the number of carts in public places and estimating the percentage of carts is restricted or unreachable regions (Blenkharn, 2006). Last but not least, an evaluation of waste management was done based on the existence of waste bags or bins on the ground or in unsuitable and unsafe positions, the availability of medical waste sacks and containers, and the provisions for separate clinical trash from other waste streams. Biomedical waste was stored in wheeled and covered carts (Eurocarts) at all 26 facilities. 20 lower capacity carts were in operation at four hospitals. There was a medical waste cart for each and every 10 beds in acute and community facilities, with minimal variance.

Carts were stored in a central cart storage room in all centres, as well as in all acute care hospitals. Throughout hospitals, satellite cart stalls might be found beside escalators, elevators, hallways, and even on the grounds (Blenkharn, 2006). Yet the hygiene and storage of waste materials is insufficient as some hospitals had no covered storage systems, at some facilities storage areas were easily accessible and not secured making those unsafe arrangements. From this finding identified in this paper, it can be rationalised that audit and regular monitoring over the waste management situation have always been prioritized, which lead to significant changes in waste management strategy.

4.4 COVID-19’s Unsustainable Waste Management

There has been an abrupt breakdown in waste management chains as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. In order to properly manage the illness, proper disposal of medical and household waste is essential. Increased environmental contamination may also be a result of poor management. Every country that has a surplus of trash should re-examine its waste management methods to ensure that they are disaster-proof and resilient. Disrupted services have resulted in a 300 per cent rise in waste mishandling in certain rural towns in the United Kingdom (You, Sonne and Ok, 2020). Traditional waste management methods such as landfilling and incineration are being replaced by less environmentally friendly alternatives like recycling because of a lack of viable alternatives.

The Environment Agency of the United Kingdom is endangering the environment by permitting the temporary storage of garbage and incineration ash at locations that have not been given a permit, as is generally necessary. This paper illustrates and suggests some of the core methods that can be adopted by certain authorities to reduce and curb the amount of wastage from medical sources (You, Sonne and Ok, 2020). A mobile treatment system should be installed near hospitals and health care facilities in the United Kingdom and other impacted nations in order to reduce the flow of medical waste. Priority should be given to the design and analysis of sustainable solid waste management systems, including transportation, recycling, and treatment methods and regulations.

4.5 Waste Not, Want Not. What Are the Drivers of Sustainable Medicines Recycling in National Health Service (NHS) Hospital Pharmacies (UK)?

Only a small portion of NHS (UK) procurement and administration is devoted to medicines, yet it’s a significant one. The Department of Health released an action plan in December 2012 to better use medications and cut down on unnecessary wastage. The NHS has a responsibility to ensure that it is as effective as possible in all elements of the supply chain when it comes to medications management in order to be sustainable. Optimizing pharmaceuticals from procurement through storing, administration and adherence to waste avoidance, management and waste recovery are all important considerations in this process. Hospital pharmacy is a component of the wider National Health Service (UK) and puts a high priority on reducing waste and medication expenditure and implementing best practices (Breen and Xie, 2015). An investigation of NHS hospital pharmacy’ reverse logistics procedures and operational planning is the goal of this project.

Overall, the goal is to discover the differences and similarities in conventional logistical activities’ strategy and conduct via qualitative study. As a result of this research, healthcare workers in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) can now see how waste medications recycling is done in the NHS. The study’s goal is to analyse the organizational strategy that drives NHS hospital pharmacies’ drug reversal logistics procedures. It aims to discover what strategies and practices are used, how they operate, and why this is so. An RL system must have a way to dispose of waste material. It was critical, from a strategic standpoint, to be aware of the procedures in place to make the recycling of pharmaceuticals easier.

Consequently, participants were able to provide feedback on their methods, which significantly decreased stock recycling and waste (Breen and Xie, 2015). Preventing stock rotation and obsolescence by doing proactive data reviews was the most commonly stated key component. People who participated in the survey were asked to explain how pharmaceuticals recycling is beneficial to their organisations and the NHS. There were several replies to this open-ended topic that focused on reducing waste and saving money. Because one responder did remark that it is too costly to discard all returns, it can be assumed that recycling is justified. There were no regulations or instructions that affected recycling methods, according to the findings. Some members of this group were unclear whether there was anything at all.

Others argued that organizational standard procedures and rules guide practise in the direction of cost savings in line with NHS efficiency and waste disposal legislation and practices and that this is true. There was a discrepancy in the use of resources to assist the recycling of pharmaceutical items, according to the results. To determine whether or not hospital pharmacies are using technological apps to help their recycling efforts in the NHS (UK), participants were questioned whether or not they were able to process customer and product data (Breen and Xie, 2015). The pharmacy computer systems were cited as the primary technological source for making recycling easier in all of the submissions. It is clear from the results of this research that the UK’s NHS Pharmacy has a strong foundation for sustainable systems and operating efficiencies.

Chapter 5: Discussion

5.1 Analysis

During the consideration of the study regarding findings, it becomes significant that the researcher study has significantly evaluated that knowledge and information regarding the best environmental management practice for the waste management sector. Moreover, the findings section also analysed the questions regarding a circular pharmaceutical supply chain to reduce medicine waste. In addition to this, during the conduction of the findings, the researcher also collected and interpreted the information and data about the standards of clinical waste management in the UK hospitals and COVID-19’s unsustainable waste management. Furthermore, the researcher also analysed and identified the drivers of sustainable medicines recycling in national health service hospital pharmacies in the UK. In this way, the researcher has been able to proficiently meet with the objectives and the questions that was set in the beginning of the research study. Moreover, this study successfully addressed all the research objectives to make it more potential and viable.

Through focusing on the first section of the findings chapter, it is easy to say that the technique in which a society creates and manages waste is vital to its ability to make best use of available resources. While a broad variety of efforts is required to make Europe’s economy more resource-efficient and circular, improving waste management at the community scale in Europe provides a substantial possibility to conserve resources. This article provides a set of best practices that may be implemented extensively based on an in-depth study of the actions conducted by industry leaders in waste management. BEMPs or best environmental management practices are aimed at supporting municipalities and waste management businesses in their transition to a circular economy. There are several ways to improve the overall effectiveness of the waste management plan, including promoting trash reduction, building an efficient waste collecting system that supports recyclability, and supporting waste processing for reusing and product reuse.

Additionally, some issues of waste management are covered. Construction and demolition rubbish, as well as garbage created in healthcare institutions, are included in the BEMPs, while their major emphasis is on municipal solid waste management. Environmental performance indicators and criteria for accomplishment are also provided in the research, so that companies may assess their waste management performance and follow their growth. A stunning 39 percent of Europe’s waste is manufactured in just these three (Germany, France and the UK) nations alone. From the above-mentioned categories, the health care field requires significant concern as it contributes a big volume of waste and needs a suitable strategic approach to address the problem. As it applies to the diagnostic, treatment, and vaccinations operations for both humans and animals and the development of biological materials for research study, healthcare waste comprises all of these activities.

There is a vast volume of healthcare waste that is regarded dangerous since it may contain chemical substances and microorganisms that require particular handling. Medical facilities also produce various sorts of waste, and these will be assessed depending on their composition or function. In this way, systematically reviewing the second section of findings chapter it becomes evident that pharmaceutical waste drugs are on the rise all across the globe. Improve waste reduction, increase the benefits of medicines, and assure long-term sustainability are all goals pursued by the Circular Economy in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Many countries do not currently use circularity procedures for pharmaceuticals because of health and dependability concerns. This study examined if pharmaceutical waste might be decreased and the pharmaceutical supply chain made more sustainable using circular economy principles (Alshemari et al., 2020). Pharmaceutics waste management and disposal were studied in this work, which included a thorough narrative literature review.

The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to pharmaceutical waste as expired, unutilized, spilled, or contaminated medications and vaccines (WHO). Dispose of them in an appropriate way. An increase in the amount of pharmaceutical waste is mostly caused by an increase in the number of patients and prescriptions, as well as overconsumption and excess manufacture. Unwanted, expired, and misplaced prescriptions are causing a shortage of pharmaceuticals as well as an increase in pharmaceutical waste and a spike in out-of-pocket expenditures (Alshemari et al., 2020). This is a growing problem that requires a thorough response on a global scale. According to study, prescription medications licenced by the NHS in the United Kingdom are wasted every year to the tune of £300 million. Drug waste costs the United Kingdom an enormous sum. The pharmaceutical industry loses one pound for every twenty-five pounds it spends. “More than 90 million drugs are sitting on the shelves at any one time, which is an additional $300 million”.

A total of £110 million is spent each year on returned prescriptions. Every year, the NHS discards over £50 million in unneeded pharmaceuticals from nursing homes. Taxes paid by UK citizens and businesses are used to fund the country’s healthcare system. In addition to this, the third section of the findings chapter demonstrates that Unauthorized individuals could not access the waste because of the security mechanisms in place at the central cart storage facility and satellite cart storage facilities. By counting the number of carts in public areas and calculating the proportion of carts in restricted or inaccessible areas, researchers were able to estimate the total number of carts in use (Blenkharn, 2006). It was also determined that there was a need to evaluate waste management based on the presence of waste bags or bins on the ground or in risky places, as well as the availability of medical waste sacks and containers.

All 26 establishments kept biomedical waste in wheeled and covered carts (Eurocarts). Four hospitals were using 20 smaller capacity carts. In both acute and community care centres, there was a medical waste cart for every ten beds. All centres and acute care hospitals have a central cart storage area where carts were kept. Hospitals sometimes have satellite cart booths near escalators, elevators, and even the grounds itself (Blenkharn, 2006). To make matters worse, some hospitals lacked covered storage systems, while at others, trash cans were left exposed and unlocked, creating a potentially hazardous situation. An audit and frequent monitoring of the waste management situation has always been emphasised, which has resulted in major improvements in waste management strategy. On the other hand, the fourth section of the findings chapter shows that since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), waste management systems have fallen apart.

Medical and domestic trash must be appropriately disposed of if the sickness is to be effectively managed. Poor management may also lead to an increase in environmental pollution. If a nation has an excess of rubbish, it should re-examine its waste management practises to ensure that they are disaster-proof and robust. Some remote areas in the United Kingdom have seen a 300 percent increase in garbage mismanagement as a consequence of service interruptions. Waste management practises like landfilling and incineration are being replaced by less ecologically friendly options like recycling since there are no viable alternatives (You, Sonne and Ok, 2020). It’s putting the environment at risk by allowing the temporary storage of waste and incinerator ash at areas that don’t need a permit from the Environment Agency of the United Kingdom. Certain authorities may use the approaches outlined in this article to help cut down on medical waste by implementing them.

Medical waste should be reduced by installing a mobile treatment system near hospitals and other health care institutions in the United Kingdom and other afflicted countries. Design and analysis of sustainable solid waste management systems, such as transportation, recycling, and treatment techniques and regulations, should be given top priority. This includes solid waste management. In this way, the last section of the findings chapter states that Medicines make up just a tiny percentage of NHS (UK) procurement and administration, yet they have a big impact. An action plan issued by the Department of Health in December 2012 aims to improve the usage of pharmaceuticals and reduce waste. In order to remain financially viable, the National Health Service (NHS) must optimise pharmaceutical management across the whole supply chain. All aspects of the acquisition, storage, administration, and adherence of medications must be optimised, including waste reduction, management, and waste recovery.

Hospital pharmacies in the United Kingdom are an integral part of the National Health Service (NHS) and place a high value on following best practises and decreasing waste and pharmaceutical expense (Breen and Xie, 2015). The purpose of this study is to investigate the NHS hospital pharmacy’s reverse logistics and operational planning. In this way, it is become evident that the entire findings section significantly and successfully addressed all the questions and the research objectives. Moreover, the scholarly statements in the literature review section has also been met efficiently. Through this the study become more potential and significant for the future researchers and the learners of this particular study topic.

5.2 Summary

In this way, by considering entire analysis, it is summarised that in this article, the researcher has provided a collection of best practises that may be applied widely and are based on an in-depth assessment of the activities taken by leaders in the waste management sector. Known as BEMPs, or best environmental management practises, these guidelines are intended to assist municipalities and waste management companies in their move to a more circular economic model. Only these three countries (Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) are responsible for manufacturing 39 percent of Europe’s trash. In the healthcare industry, there is a significant amount of waste that is considered hazardous because it may include chemical chemicals and bacteria that need special management. Waste generated by medical institutions may be classified into many categories, each of which will be evaluated based on its content or function.

The purpose of this research was to determine if pharmaceutical waste could be reduced and the pharmaceutical supply chain could be made more sustainable by using circular economy concepts. The healthcare system in the United Kingdom is supported by taxes paid by people and companies in the nation. It was not possible for unauthorised persons to get access to the garbage because of the security measures in place at both the central cart storage facility and the satellite cart storage facilities. Specifically, it was necessary to assess waste management based on the presence of waste bags or bins on the ground or in high-risk areas, in addition to the accessibility to and availability of medical waste sacks and containers.

It is recommended that a mobile treatment system be installed near hospitals and other health care facilities in the United Kingdom and other affected nations in order to limit the amount of medical waste generated. A high importance should be placed on the design and study of environmentally friendly solid waste management systems, such as those for transportation, recycling, treatment processes, and regulatory frameworks. The Department of Health published an action plan in December 2012 with the goal of increasing the efficiency with which medications are used and reducing waste.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

6.1 Conclusion

In this way, throughout the analysis of the entire study of this research, it is concluded that waste management is a major concern for both the medical and government sectors. “Health care trash” may be found in hospitals, research centres, and labs. As a part of the healthcare waste management or medical waste management system, hazardous trash from hospitals and other healthcare institutions is sorted and disposed of. Even in the healthcare industry, there is a growing tendency of rising waste. Infectious and hazardous compounds are common in health care waste, making it a potential danger to both humans and the environment. Waste must be appropriately disposed of in order for patients to get medical treatment and rehabilitation in a safe environment. Medical waste may be very dangerous and damaging to the environment if it is not properly handled by healthcare institutions.

Furthermore, the researcher is likely to have utilised and used a variety of resilient and effective tactics during the course of the full study of the research in order to ensure its success. Researchers have used a variety of methods in this study, including interpretivism philosophy, inductive research methodology, systematic review research design, purposive sampling, secondary qualitative data collection, and a process known as content analysis. When the study’s conclusions are taken into account, it becomes clear that the researcher study has assessed that knowledge and information about the best waste management environmental management practises. A circular pharmaceutical supply chain was also discussed in the results section as a means of reducing drug waste. Researchers also gathered and analysed data on clinical waste management standards in UK hospitals and COVID-19’s unsustainable practises while conducting their results. Aside from that, the researcher analysed and determined the factors that contribute to sustainable drug recycling in UK hospital pharmacies.

Thus, the researcher has been able to accomplish all of his or her initial research aims and queries. Consequently. All of the research goals were met, and this study has increased its potential and viability because of it. Based on an in-depth investigation of waste management industry leaders’ behaviour, this article proposes a collection of best practises that may be widely followed. As a means of assisting local governments and waste management companies in moving toward a circular economy, BEMPs were developed. Trash reduction, an efficient waste collection system that encourages recycling, and support for waste processing for reuse and product recycling are all approaches to increase the overall efficacy of the waste management plan Pharmaceutical waste is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as pharmaceuticals and vaccines that have expired, been unused, spilled, or have been contaminated (WHO).

Get rid of them in a responsible manner. More patients and prescriptions mean more pharmaceutical waste, which in turn means more overconsumption as well as overproduction. Pharmaceutical waste and out-of-pocket costs are rising as a result of expired, unwanted, and lost prescriptions, which are also generating a scarcity of drugs. On a worldwide basis, there is an urgent need to address this rising issue. £300 million worth of NHS-licensed prescription drugs being thrown away each year, according to a new research. The United Kingdom spends a lot of money dealing with drug waste. One pound is lost for every twenty-five pounds spent by the pharmaceutical sector. In addition to the $300 million in unfilled prescriptions, there are 90 million medications on the shelf at any one moment. Improved pharmaceutical use and waste reduction are two of the goals of a Department of Health action plan released in December 2012.

Pharmaceutical supply chain management must be optimised across the National Health Service (NHS) if it is to stay financially sustainable. All elements of medicine procurement, storage, administration, and adherence, including waste reduction, management, and waste recovery, must be optimised for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Healthcare facilities in the UK are expected to adhere to best practises and cut down on waste and pharmaceutical costs as part of the National Health Service (NHS). Reverse logistics and operational planning in the NHS hospital pharmacy are the focus of this research. In this manner, it is clear that the results section addressed all of the study questions and goals to a considerable and effective degree. Furthermore, the academic remarks in the literature review part have been dealt with well. This makes the study more relevant and useful for future researchers and students of the subject matter.

6.2 Recommendation

Thus, by studying the entire study, the researcher has been able to identify some lacking within the management system of waste in the hospitals in the UK. In this aspect, the hospitals need to utilise and implement some resilient and effective strategic approaches within its workplace environment in order to efficiently and potentially manage the waste. Generally, procurement is the first step in implementing the finest waste management strategies in hospitals. Purchasing fewer single-use goods reduces the amount of garbage that must be disposed of (Breen and Xie, 2015). Less polluted and mixed garbage is produced as a result of better waste categorization and thorough separation, resulting in more recyclables being retrieved. To be recycled as regular home garbage, hazardous medical waste should first be treated.

“Autoclaving”, “thermal disinfection”, and “microwave sanitation” are all options for treatment. The quantity of garbage that is burnt by hospitals must be reduced to a minimum. Toxic, persistent, and accrual chemicals like as dioxins and furans are released into the environment by burning of solid, gaseous and aqueous wastes. Toxic emissions from incineration increase in proportion to the amount of chlorine, mercury, and chemical agents present in the infectious waste stream (You, Sonne and Ok, 2020). The most expensive form of waste treatment, both in terms of initial investment and ongoing operational expenses, is incinerating garbage. Medical waste disposal is not an issue that can be solved with a single piece of equipment. Most non-incineration processes, nevertheless, produce less pollutants and yield solid wastes that are non-hazardous and may be recycled in certain instances. For example, “Opole Hospital in Poland reduced emissions by 52% in 2007 compared to 2006 after implementing a waste reduction programme and expanding their environmental protection efforts in accordance with ISA 14001”.

6.3 Future Research Scope

During the consideration of the entire study, it becomes significant that by conducting and implementing only the secondary research, the researcher has been able to cover almost all the aspects regarding the study topic, “Hospital Waste Management: Study of UK Hospitals”. However, due to the collection of only secondary qualitative data, the researcher has been able to provide only secondary evident and reliable knowledge regarding the study. Therefore, in this aspect, in order to demonstrate some authentic and viable information for this study, the research has decided to conduct a further research in future on this relevant topic, where he or she will utilise and implement the primary quantitative and primary qualitative sources through conducting survey and interview.

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