How is a biohazard different from hazardous waste?

A biohazard is biological, and hazardous waste in a healthcare setting is chemical or radiological. That second group covers chemotherapy waste, radioactive material, heavy metals like mercury from broken thermometers, and certain pharmaceuticals. The two follow separate regulatory frameworks and separate disposal pathways, and they cannot share a container. Mixing them is a common and expensive segregation error, because hazardous waste disposal costs considerably more than biomedical waste treatment.