Medical waste is a subcategory of hazardous waste that is attracting increasing concern. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists the following categories of medical waste: cultures and stocks; pathological wastes which includes body parts; blood and blood products; used "sharps" such as needles and scalpels; animal waste or animal corpses which have been inoculated with infectious substances in medical research; isolation wastes, which come from people with highly contagious diseases; and unused, discarded "sharps."

Ten to fifteen percent of medical waste is considered infectious, although guidelines on just what is infectious medical waste vary from state to state. As a result, state and federal guidelines on disposal of these wastes are a hodgepodge of confusing laws and regulations. And the guidelines that do exist usually exempt generators of 50 pounds (23 kg) or less per month from any regulatory action.

The need to address medical waste began soon...