What percentage of waste generated by hospitals is considered infectious waste?

The correct answer is that approximately 15 percent of the waste generated by hospitals is classified as infectious waste. Infectious waste refers to any waste that may pose a risk of infection and can include items like used syringes, contaminated gloves, and other laboratory materials that come into contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials.

The percentage of infectious waste can vary among different healthcare facilities depending on the services they provide, the patients they treat, and their waste management practices. Understanding the proportion of infectious waste is crucial for effective waste management and ensuring the safety of healthcare workers, patients, and the environment.

While the percentages represented by the other options may reflect some studies or general assumptions about healthcare waste, they do not align with the commonly accepted figure of around 15 percent, which has been established by various health and environmental agencies to indicate the actual ratio of infectious waste in hospital waste generation.