Introduction: The deterioration of the water sources and the environment, with the indiscriminate deforestation, mineral extraction and consumption of fossil fuels have brought the planet to catastrophic events such as droughts and diseases that affect the world. The environment is a relevant element in the health - disease process, inadequate management of medical waste from health professionals contributes to pollution of the same, probably due to lack of knowledge and / or inadequate practices. Methods: Descriptive and transversal study, with non-experimental design, population and sample of 78 therapists, 7 Health Provider Institutions (IPS) of the city of Neiva, who have teaching-service agreement for the development of clinical practice of students from the Physiotherapy program in the University Foundation Maria Cano (FUMC) during the period of 2012-2013. Results: It was observed that most (85.9%) of physiotherapists interviewed knew about classification, the process of self-care, as well as the existing regulations on hospital waste; regarding to practices, (82.1%) reported having adequate on hospital waste management practices. Conclusion: Inadequate handling of hospital waste practices contributes to environmental and health damage by increasing the development of diseases, it is necessary to take into account the existing regulations and strengthen training in the various health institutions in favor of patients and environment safety .