Waste Management

Laws to follow regarding waste management

• Environmental protection act 1990

• Special waste regulations (amended) 1996

• Hazardous waste regulations 2005

Commercial waste documentation

• Section 34(5) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990

• Can sometimes be known as Waste Transfer Note

• Essential for commercial properties to have evidence on where waste is going

• Especially hazardous waste (needs to be a formal document)

• But also needed for domestic waste (which can be an invoice of collection)

Types of waste

• Non-hazardous

• Hazardous

Non-Hazardous waste

• Domestic waste

• Offensive waste

• Pharmaceuticals (non-cytotoxic/cytostatic)

• Cadavers (unless harbouring a notifiable disease)

Hazardous waste

• Infectious/clinical waste

• Sharps

• Cytotoxic and cytostatic waste

• Photographic/radiographic chemicals

• Other (fluorescent light tubes, light bulbs, batteries)

Domestic waste

• Waste including: Dry recyclable materials - plastic, metal, glass, paper and card, Food waste, Black bin waste (residual waste)

• Internal disposal → Black bin bag or recycle bin or food waste bin

• External disposal → landfills for non-recyclable waste and recycled if recyclable

Offensive waste

• Waste including: faeces, bedding, clinical material - not infectious

• Internal disposal → tiger stipe bag

• External disposal → landfill

Pharmaceuticals

• Waste including: Empty bottles, syringes, whole drugs, denatured controlled drugs

• Internal disposal → Blue topped bin

• External disposal → High temperature incineration

Controlled drugs

• Regulated by the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001

• Must be disposed of using a denaturing kit

• Liquids – added straight to kit

• Tablets – crushed, mixed with water then added

• Schedule 2 drugs must have their disposal witnessed

• Disposed of in Pharmaceutical waste

Cadavers (a corpse or deceased body)

• Non-infectious cadavers → buried at home by owner, buried at a pet cemetery or cremated by a pet crematorium

• Cadaver with Notifiable disease → APHA/DEFRA to dispose of

• No specific packaging requirement

Infectious/Clinical Waste

• Waste including: Animal tissue, body parts, blood or other bodily fluids, Waste from infectious disease and zoonotic patients, Items contaminated with pharmaceuticals

• Internal disposal → Yellow clinical waste bag

• External disposal → High temperature incineration

Orange clinical waste bags

• No body parts or cadavers

• External disposal → Autoclaving for best practice

Sharps - yellow lidded bins

• Disposal of surgical needles, scalpel blades, hypodermic needles

• Can be contaminated with bodily fluids and pharmaceuticals

• Internal disposal → yellow lid sharps bin

• External disposal → high temperature incineration

Sharps - Orange lidded bins

• Dispose of sharps not contaminated with pharmaceuticals

• Internal disposal → orange lid sharps bin

• External disposal → autoclaving or disinfection

Cytotoxic means..

Toxic to cells

Cytostatic means..

Inhibition of cell growth and multiplication

Cytotoxic and cytostatic waste

• Waste including: anything contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic pharmaceuticals

• Internal disposal → sharps bin with purple lid, yellow bag with purple stipes or purple bag

• External disposal → high temperature incineration

Photographic/Radiographic chemicals

• Waste including: fixer and developer solutions

• The two solutions should be disposed of separately

• No standard packaging requirements

• Waste containers must be leak-proof and labelled

Fluorescent light bulbs

Specialised recycling centres

Batteries

Should be taken to local supermarkets for recycling

Light bulbs

• Incandescent: regular waste bin

• LED or CFL: recycling centre

Consequences of poor waste disposal

• Environmental damage

• Human injury

• Prosecution of organisation and individual

Environmental damage

• Infectious/zoonotic diseases

• Risk of wildlife health with chemicals

Human injury

• Sharps put in plastic bags

• Risk of injury from chemicals

Prosecution of organisation and individual

• Failure to produce commercial waste documentation

• Breach of section 34(5) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (£300)