The Importance of Responsible Medical Waste Management
Medical or pathological waste refers to any solid waste product used in the medical process of treating humans or animals. Examples of medical waste products include used needle sharps, unwanted medicines, blood glucose testing strips or specimen containers. Medical waste products can be extremely harmful to both the environment and other living organisms if they are not disposed of and handled in a responsible manner. Placing medical waste into general waste or rubbish receptacles creates a biohazard risk and increases opportunity for diseases and bacteria to spread from person to person. Solo Resource Recovery provides customisable medical waste management services for a variety of public and private organisations including:
- Hospitals:
Hospitals have a large and complex need for responsible medical waste disposal and management. Whilst some hospitals will dispose of biological and medical waste material on site, often the waste needs to be removed and transported to an EPA approved site for safe disposal.
- Pharmacies:
Unwanted, out of date and old medicines are continually dropped off and returned by patients at most pharmacies. Safe disposal of these old medications is crucial, and it is not safe or legal to dispose of medication in regular rubbish receptacles.
- Dental surgeries:
Used examination gloves, sharps from mouth injections and soiled dental equipment require correct cleaning and disposal. Often dental surgeries are small, private organisations and do not have access to regular public medication disposal services.
- Medical centres:
At a medical centre, used examination gloves, sharps from injections, used dressings and soiled equipment require correct cleaning and disposal. Like dental surgeries, medical centres are often small, private organisations that do not have access to regular public medication disposal services.
- Laboratories:
Biological specimens, used glassware and equipment from experiments conducted in laboratories must be disposed of in correct medical waste receptacles.
- Home or school use:
Injections administered at home or school need to be correctly stored and disposed of. An example of medical waste requiring disposal at home is pen needles used in administering insulin injections for diabetics. These used needles must be disposed of in a sharps bin safely stored away from children and pets. Solo Resource Recovery’s pathological waste collection services are available on a regular schedule or as required basis. All medical waste collected by Solo is managed in a safe and environmentally conscious way and disposed of only at EPA approved waste disposal sites. The safe containment, transport and disposal of medical waste is a legal requirement that is unfortunately not always taken seriously by organisations and in private home use. Choose Solo for responsible medical waste disposal and reduce the risk of personal injury, spread of infection, chemical toxicity and environmental pollution posed by pathological waste disposed of irresponsibly. Please note: Medical waste services are not available in all locations. Please enquire online, or phone into the closest depot to you and find out if this service is available in your area.
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