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Must Biohazardous Waste and Pharmaceutical Waste Be Treated Differently?

pharm waste
Although biohazardous waste and pharmaceutical waste both pose a danger to people and the environment, they need to be handled differently. Biohazardous medical waste has to be sterilized in one way or another (incineration, autoclave etc.) to destroy all potential for infection. It’s then transported to a landfill for final disposal.

Pharmaceutical waste cannot be handled in that way. If it was, it would end up in the landfill and leech into the water supply. It needs to be separated correctly and incinerated. This type of waste consists of expired, unused or contaminated drugs and vaccines from human or animal treatment facilities. When incinerated, the heat breaks down the chemicals and makes the product safe for disposal. Charcoal based products also have to be disposed of in this manner.

When considering how you’re going to dispose of your facility’s waste, fines aren’t all you need to worry about. Negative headlines could adversely affect your business too. For small facilities that don’t need to dispose of pharma waste very often, an on-call service is a good option. Alternatively, many waste disposal companies offer mail-back containers.