Hospital wastes from a surgical department (operating unit, intensive care unit, nursery) and household refuse were examined with respect to their bacterial concentrations and species' pattern. The waste samples were processed by active suspending - a new method in the field of waste examination - which allowed gentle homogenization and quantitative microbial counts. Among several established features the most relevant ones like bacterial concentration and relative frequency of bacterial groups (aerobic bacteria, (facultative) anaerobic bacteria, gramnegative bacteria and D-streptococci) indicated, that hospital wastes were not more contaminated than household refuse. Under this aspect, the present practice of hospital waste management, whose main concern is the spread of infectious agents outside the hospital, deserves a reevaluation.