Separating different types of waste at the point of generation and
keeping them isolated from each other prevents infectious and hazardous
waste contaminating ordinary waste.
This minimises the amounts of infectious, hazardous and low-level
radioactive waste that must be treated according to special (and usually
costly) standards.
Above: how not to segregate waste. Cardboard, paper, plastics and non-hazardous syringes are mixed in with infectious waste. It all has to be decontaminated.