Az egészségügyi hulladék külön van.

A word-for-word breakdown is:

• az = the
• egészségügyi = medical / healthcare-related
• hulladék = waste
• külön = separate / apart / separately
• van = is

So the sentence is literally something like The medical waste is separate or The medical waste is apart.

In real usage, it often implies medical waste is kept separate.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

Since egészségügyi starts with the vowel e, the correct article is az.

So:

• a hulladék = the waste
• az egészségügyi hulladék = the medical waste

No. That is a very common confusion.

• egészséges = healthy
• egészségügyi = medical, healthcare-related, sanitary

So egészségügyi hulladék does not mean healthy waste. It means medical waste or healthcare waste.

This adjective is built from egészség meaning health, and it refers to things connected with health services, medicine, hospitals, hygiene, and similar areas.

That is true in many cases, but not all.

Hungarian often omits van in the 3rd person present with simple noun or adjective predicates:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• A szemét veszélyes. = The trash is dangerous.

But with many adverbial or state-type expressions, Hungarian keeps van:

• Itt van. = It is here.
• Rendben van. = It is fine.
• Külön van. = It is separate / apart.

In this sentence, külön behaves more like a state or adverbial expression, so van stays.

Here külön means separately, apart, or in a separate place/category.

So the idea is not just abstract difference. It usually suggests practical separation, for example:

• stored separately
• collected separately
• kept apart from other waste

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• is separate
• is kept separate
• is separated from the rest

It can behave a bit like both, which is why learners often notice it.

In this sentence, it is best understood as a predicate meaning separate / apart. In English, that can feel adjective-like, but in Hungarian it often patterns more like an adverbial state, which is one reason van is used.

So you do not need to force it into a single English category. The important thing is how the whole expression works:

• külön van = is separate / is apart / is kept separately

Not completely, but the given order is a normal neutral one.

• Az egészségügyi hulladék külön van.

This presents the medical waste as the topic, then says something about it.

You can also move things for emphasis, for example:

• Külön van az egészségügyi hulladék.

That puts more attention on külön, roughly like The medical waste is separate.

However, Hungarian word order is not random. It often reflects topic and emphasis, not just grammar. In this kind of sentence, külön normally stays right before van.

Hulladék is usually a mass noun, like English waste.

So singular is completely normal:

• hulladék = waste

English also usually uses singular here:

• medical waste
• not usually medical wastes in a basic statement like this

Hungarian can use a plural form hulladékok, but that is less common and usually refers to separate kinds or units of waste rather than waste in general.

You change van to nincs:

• Az egészségügyi hulladék nincs külön.

That means The medical waste is not separate.

This is a very common Hungarian pattern:

• van = is
• nincs = is not

In real-life contexts, a longer sentence might sound more specific, such as one meaning is not collected separately or is not kept apart, but the basic negation is nincs külön.

This is a hard word for many learners.

A few helpful points:

• Hungarian stress is on the first syllable of the word.
• sz sounds like English s
• s sounds like English sh
• gy is a soft consonant, somewhat like the sound in British-style during or duke
• ü is like German ü or French u

A very rough English-friendly approximation is:

• EH-gaysh-shay-gyü-yee

That is only approximate, but it helps with the main sounds.

For the whole sentence, remember that each Hungarian word is stressed on its first syllable:

• AZ egészségügyi HULLadék KÜlön VAN