This paper deals with issues pertaining to solid waste. It discusses problems resulting from both the life style of modern civilization and relationships between the First and Third Worlds, as well as prospects for the environment if a new ethic of solidarity among human beings and respect for life is not established Beginning with this overview, the article deals with specific issues of hospital waste and the interference and impositions of First-World "culture" in the systems for handling, processing, and disposing of hospital waste in Brazil. The article concludes by analyzing whether or not such nosocomial waste should be considered hazardous.