Tuberculosis (TB) treatment centres and laboratories generate different types of waste during diagnosis, treatment, patient care, specimen collection, and laboratory investigations. Much of this waste may be infectious because it can contain *Mycobacterium tuberculosis*, the organism responsible for tuberculosis. Therefore, proper waste management is essential to protect patients, healthcare workers, laboratory staff, waste handlers, visitors, and the surrounding community. Waste must be segregated, collected, transported, treated, and finally disposed of according to biomedical waste management principles and applicable health regulations. In TB treatment centres, waste may include used gloves, masks, gowns, tissues, cotton, swabs, syringes, needles, dressings, contaminated disposable materials, sputum containers, medicine packaging, and general non-infectious waste. Waste from patients with respiratory infections requires particular attention because respiratory secretions may contain infectious organisms. The first important step is segregation of waste at the point where it is generated. Infectious waste should not be mixed with ordinary municipal waste. Separate containers or bags should be used for different categories of waste, following the colour-coding and biomedical waste requirements applicable to the healthcare facility. Sputum and respiratory specimens require special care in TB centres. Patients who are asked to produce sputum should be provided with appropriate leak-proof, properly labelled containers. Sputum collection should preferably take place in a designated, well-ventilated area away from crowded spaces. The containers should remain closed when not in use. Staff should avoid unnecessary handling of sputum containers and should use appropriate personal protective equipment. After collection, specimens should be transported to the laboratory in secure, leak-proof secondary containers according to established procedures. Used sputum containers and other items contaminated with respiratory secretions should be treated as potentially infectious waste. Reusable containers, where permitted, should undergo appropriate decontamination and cleaning before reuse. Disposable containers and other contaminated materials should be subjected to an approved treatment process before final disposal. The treatment method depends on the type of material and the facility's approved biomedical waste procedures. Infectious waste should never simply be placed in an ordinary waste bin. Sharp waste is another important category. Needles, lancets, blades, and other sharp objects can cause injuries and may expose workers to infectious material. Sharps should be discarded immediately after use into puncture-resistant, leak-proof sharps containers. Needles should not be unnecessarily recapped, bent, or manipulated. Sharps containers should not be overfilled. Once they reach the permitted filling level, they should be closed securely and sent for appropriate treatment and disposal through the authorised waste-management system. Personal protective equipment such as gloves, masks, gowns, and other disposable protective materials may become contaminated during patient care. Used protective equipment should be removed carefully to prevent contamination of the worker or surrounding surfaces. Reusable protective clothing should be handled separately and appropriately cleaned or disinfected. Disposable contaminated PPE should be segregated and treated as infectious