The correct waste management is a key factor in health and environment protection. It is essential that all employees in healthcare institutions understand and accept the rules of waste management. Aim: The aim of the research was to present and describe the model of healthcare waste management in University Medical Centre Ljubljana (UMCL). Furthermore, we wanted to test the operation efficiency of waste management system taking into account the evaluation of employees’ waste management in health care, and, additionally, to determine the factors, which influence the correct or incorrect waste management in an individual. We also wanted to assess the attitude of employees toward waste separation and their understanding and implementation of instructions for correct management of waste, produced during the process of health care in UMCL. Work methods: In theoretical part, we have presented the status of healthcare waste management based on literature review. In empirical part, we have used two different methods: inspection of the contents of waste containers and qualitative research. We have carried out the inspection of the contents of waste containers in five medical departments of UMCL, which were purposively based on the largest quantity of produced infectious wastes per patient bed per day in 2015. We have obtained the data for qualitative analysis by performing semi-structured interviews. The questions for interviews were prepared based on data gathered with the inspection of the efficiency and successfulness of waste separation procedures. We have interviewed fourteen healthcare employees, namely two experts from individual department (head nurse and a hygienist) and five randomly selected nurses from each department. Results: The results of the inspection of the contents of waste containers have shown that the efficiency of waste separation has varried between 56-73 % in all selected departments. The results of qualitative analysis have enabled us to recognize the most important factors, which influence the correct waste separation. These factors include the following: habits, raised awareness, upbringing, room accessibility, possibility of separation, time, waste definition criteria, ignorance, novelties, automatism, carelessness, lack of control and influence of other persons. Discussion and conclusion: The results of the research shows that employees who were involved in the research knows and follows the waste management instructions in UMCL. However, the presence of certain factors leads to incorrect separation of waste. Based on the findings in this research and in order to make better waste separation, we prepared recommendations for improving the waste separation system in the UMCL.
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