Cleveland Clinic manages its medical waste with color coding

Cleveland Clinic’s Office for a Healthy Environment focuses on sustainability across the organization, including the responsible management of medical waste, according to an article on the Waste Today website.

Cleveland Clinic has “eco caregivers,” a dedicated group of surgeons, nurses and physicians who are responsible for education and ensuring materials of all types are put where they need to be for proper handling and disposal.

Part of the organization's system is color-coding waste.

Red bags carry regulated medical waste, yellow bags contain pathological waste, orange bags are used to collect plastics (which make up 10 to 15 percent of the organization’s waste stream), blue bags are for commingled recyclables, purple bags are used for clinical plastics, and clear bags are used for unregulated waste.

Read the article