Objective To understand the current status of classification and disposal of partial medical waste in medical institutions (MIs) in China, provide scientific evidence for improving the operability of classified disposal of medical waste and realizing the reduction, harmlessness and recycling of medical waste. Methods By stratified sampling method, questionnaires were used to investigate the status of classification and disposal of medical waste in 1 574 MIs, investigation results were checked and statistically analyzed. Results A total of 1 345 qualified questionnaires were collected, with the effective recovery rate of 85.45%. The qualified disposal rates of pathogen culture, specimen, strain, virus preservation solution and household garbage produced by patients with infectious di-seases or suspected infectious diseases were 93.75%(1 261/1 345) and 98.66% (1 327/1 345) respectively; 68.21% (826/1 211) of MIs send human tissues and organs to medical waste disposal centers, 97.45% (916/940) of MIs disposed non-infected placentas or non-infected placentas were taken away by puerpera after signing consent, and 72.13% (678/940) of MIs handed over dead fetus to the funeral home for disposal, only 55.74% (510/915) of MIs handed over batches of expired chemotherapeutic drugs or cytotoxic drugs to qualified institutions for disposal, and a small amount of residual vaccines were mainly disposed of as common infectious waste (88.34%, 932/1 055); 30.38% (322/1 060), 25.42% (257/1 011) and 35.57% (350/984) of MIs respectively disposed the pathological waste liquid, disinfectant and discarded batches of chemical reagent by professional hazardous waste disposal centers. Disposal modes of human tissues and organs, dead fetus, batches of expired chemotherapeutic drugs or cytotoxic drugs and batches of discarded chemical reagents were different in all levels of MIs(all P < 0.05). Oxygen humidification bottles, disposable tourniquets, empty bottles of chemical reagent and disinfectant, disposable shoe co-vers, fixed gypsum, disposable quilt covers, bed sheets and pillowcases of non-infectious patients were mainly disposed as medical waste; outer packaging of paper and plastic, diapers and sanitary napkins of non-infectious patients were mainly disposed as household waste; infusion bottles (bags) and glass medicine bottles such as penicillin bottles were as recyclable waste in 77.18% and 45.21% of MIs respectively. Conclusion The problem of classified disposal of pathological, pharmaceutical and chemical medical waste is prominent, the classified disposal methods of other common waste in MIs, such as uncontaminated oxygen humidification bottles, disposable articles, empty reagent bottles and fixed gypsum, are not unified, which needs to be further standardized.