In the application of the provisions of this law, the words and phrases defined below shall have the meanings indicated next to each of them, unless the context indicates otherwise.

• 1- Healthcare Waste:

• It refers to waste generated from facilities providing various healthcare services, laboratories, pharmaceutical and drug production centers, veterinary treatment centers, research institutions, home care and nursing, and is divided into two types:

  • 1-1- Non-Hazardous Healthcare Waste:

  • It includes all waste containing materials similar to those found in municipal waste, generated from administrative departments and general cleaning activities within healthcare facilities, and constitutes the majority of total healthcare waste, treated as municipal waste.

  • 1-2- Hazardous Healthcare Waste:

  • It refers to waste generated from contaminated sources or potentially contaminated with infectious, chemical, or radioactive agents, constituting the lesser percentage of total healthcare waste and posing a risk to individuals, society, and the environment during its production, collection, handling, storage, transfer, or disposal.

• 2- Waste from Parts and Remains of Human and Animal Organs:

• It refers to waste containing tissues, human organs, embryonic and placental tissues, animal carcasses, blood and its derivatives, and bodily fluids.

• 3- Infectious Waste:

• It refers to waste that may transmit any infectious diseases due to contamination with bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.

• 4- Chemical Waste:

• It refers to waste containing solid, liquid, or gaseous chemical substances resulting from diagnostic, therapeutic, laboratory activities, or used in cleaning and disinfection or sterilization procedures.

• 5- Sharp Waste:

• It refers to waste containing sharp instruments such as syringes, scalpels, surgical blades, saws, blades, broken glass, and any other sharp tools that may cause cuts or punctures to the body.

• 6- Pharmaceutical Waste (Medicines):

• It refers to waste resulting from preventive or therapeutic activities or from the production and preparation of pharmaceutical products and drugs, including expired or damaged medicines.

• 7- Waste Contaminated with Radioactive Materials:

• It refers to waste that includes all solid, liquid, and gaseous materials contaminated with radioactive isotopes resulting from their use in human tissue and fluid examinations and in diagnostic and treatment procedures for tumors.

• 8- Waste from Compressed Gas Containers:

• It refers to empty or damaged gas cylinders, cartridges, sterilization containers, and aerosol spray cans.

• 9- Waste of Genotoxic and Cytotoxic Materials:

• It refers to highly hazardous pharmaceutical materials capable of killing or preventing cell division or genetic components, including those used in treating certain types of cancer and organ transplant cases, as well as any supplies used in preparing these materials, in addition to the patient's excretions being treated with these materials for up to a week from the date of the last dose taken by the patient.

• 10- Waste Treatment Unit:

• It means the facility where the biological, chemical, or physical properties of hazardous healthcare waste are altered to eliminate its hazards, making it safe for health and the environment.

• 11- Waste Sorting (Separation):

• It is the isolation of a group of hazardous healthcare waste (by the producer) starting from the point of its production in the facility and during the stages of collection, packaging, storage, and transfer within the facility.

• 12- Storage:

• It is the temporary preservation of hazardous healthcare waste at a designated collection site.

• 13- Carrier:

• It is the natural or legal person (company or public or private institution) that operates in the field of transporting hazardous healthcare waste to the treatment and disposal unit.

• 14- Transport Document:

• It is the form that includes all the required data signed by the producer, carrier, and disposer, which usually consists of several copies accompanying the load of healthcare waste transferred from the waste-producing facility to the treatment unit.

• 15- Facility:

• It refers to any hospital, clinic, medical or veterinary center, pharmaceutical company, medical research center, pharmacy, laboratory, or public or private rehabilitation center.

• 16- Producer:

• It is any natural or legal person whose activities result in the production of healthcare waste, such as a healthcare facility.

• 17- Competent Authority:

• It is the environmental agency or any other authority designated by the state.

• 18- Waste Incineration:

• It is the process of disposing of combustible solid, liquid, and gaseous waste at high temperatures, resulting in gases or materials or compounds that do not affect the environment and residues that do not contain hazardous materials.

The purpose of this law is to establish an appropriate control and monitoring method for the production, sorting, storage, transportation, processing, and safe disposal of hazardous healthcare waste in the GCC countries.

It also aims to support and develop the processing operations of this type of waste in a manner that preserves public health and prevents environmental pollution.

This law applies to every producer, transporter, or disposer involved in the collection, storage, transportation, processing, or disposal of hazardous healthcare waste, and for radioactive materials, they are handled in accordance with the unified law for dealing with radioactive materials in the GCC countries.

Producers of hazardous healthcare waste must work to reduce the rates of production of this waste in both quantity and quality, by developing the devices and equipment used, adopting clean technology, and selecting alternatives and raw materials that are less harmful to the environment and public health. Each healthcare facility must also establish a comprehensive work program for the proper management of waste.

Hazardous healthcare waste is classified as follows:

• A- Infectious waste:

• This includes waste that contains pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi) in sufficient quantities or concentrations to cause diseases in individuals exposed to infection, including remnants of microbial cultures, surgical waste, waste from isolation departments, and waste from dialysis units for patients with infectious diseases.

• B- Waste from body parts and remains:

• This includes tissues and organs or parts thereof, embryonic and placental tissues, blood and its derivatives, other body fluids, and animal carcasses.

• C- Sharps waste:

• This refers to items that can cause cuts, wounds, or punctures to the body, such as syringe needles, scalpels, blades, broken glass, and other sharp instruments.

• D- Pharmaceutical waste (medications):

• This includes waste resulting from the manufacturing and preparation of medications and pharmaceutical products, damaged or expired pharmaceutical products, contaminated pharmaceutical products, serums, and vaccines, including the containers and tools used in their production, packaging, and distribution.

• E- Waste of genotoxic and cytotoxic materials:

• This refers to materials that can affect genes and cells, leading to health issues such as congenital defects in the fetus or the potential to cause cancer, and have the ability to inhibit cell growth. These materials are used in nuclear medicine departments, oncology treatment units, and radiation diagnostics, including wastewater generated from the restrooms of patients treated with these materials.

• F- Chemical waste:

• Chemical waste is considered hazardous if it meets any of the following characteristics:

  • • Toxic.

  • • Flammable.

  • • Corrosive to other materials.

  • • Reactive or explosive.

  • • Capable of causing congenital defects in fetuses, altering genetic materials, causing cancer, or inhibiting cell growth.

• G- Radioactive waste:

• This includes all materials (solid and liquid) that have radioactive activity and are used in examination, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as all materials contaminated with them (whether solid or liquid).

• H- Waste from compressed gas containers:

• This refers to empty or damaged compressed gas containers that were used to package inert gases or gases that may cause harm, and these containers may explode when punctured or exposed to high temperatures.

1- Hazardous healthcare waste products must have adhesive labels or printing on containers and waste bags before being transferred to the storage site within the healthcare facility or treatment unit, and these labels must contain the following information:

• 1- 1- Name of the waste product (name of the facility).

• 1- 2- Name of the location (department or wing).

• 1- 3- Type of waste produced according to the classification mentioned in Article (4).

• 1- 4- Weight and quantity of the waste stored in the container or bag.

• 1- 5- Time and date of collection.

• 1- 6- Time and date of transfer.

2- The labels placed on the containers and bags must be of appropriate size, printed with permanent ink, and water-resistant.

3- The hazardous biological waste logo must be placed on the containers or bags as specified in Appendix No. (5).

1- The collection and transfer of bags and containers of hazardous healthcare waste require the use of dedicated carts (trolleys) for this purpose and trained personnel to ensure the highest levels of safety during the collection and transfer process within healthcare facilities to prevent the contents of the bags and containers from spilling or leaking.

2- Before collecting and transferring bags and containers of hazardous healthcare waste, it is necessary to ensure they are securely closed and that they bear a waste data label indicating the type of waste contained and displaying the hazardous biological waste symbol.

3- Bags should not be filled with waste to more than three-quarters of their capacity, should not be compressed or compacted, and should not be held by the body or from the bottom when being carried; rather, they should be held from the top while being carried.

4- Hazardous healthcare waste must be transported within the healthcare facility using covered carts (trolleys) specifically designed for this purpose, ensuring their efficiency during loading and unloading, as well as being strong, leak-proof, and easy to clean and disinfect (with disinfectants).

5- Hazardous healthcare waste generated from infectious disease departments and isolation rooms must be collected under the direct supervision of the healthcare waste management officer in the healthcare facility.

6- Human, fetal, and placental tissues and organs must be collected separately and stored in a morgue refrigerator or a special refrigerator until they are disposed of in accordance with the regulations in each country, in compliance with the principles of Islamic law.

7- Animal carcasses and tissues must be collected separately and stored in a refrigerator until they are processed and disposed of.

8- The carts (trolleys) designated for collecting and transferring hazardous healthcare waste must be cleaned and disinfected daily by trained personnel under the supervision of the healthcare waste officer in the healthcare facility, in a designated area, ensuring that cleaning waste is treated before being discharged or disposed of.

9- If spillage or leakage of hazardous healthcare waste occurs from bags, containers, or transport carts, the spilled or leaked waste must be considered highly hazardous, necessitating immediate action and the implementation of disinfection and safety measures in the area where the spillage occurred.

10- Non-hazardous healthcare waste is collected in black bags and must be handled completely separately from hazardous healthcare waste at all stages (packaging, collection, transport within the facility, and storage) until it is transferred to final disposal sites designated by the municipality.