Are Healthcare Systems in Europe looking at emissions related to processing regulated waste?
Are volumes of medical waste and sharps a problem or a challenge as it is related to space in landfills?
Anybody out there?
Comments (13)
I feel waste medicine needs careful scrutiny - the amount which could (and should) be reallocated to another patient would save waste and a fortune and pollution too
I would be interested if anyone has any pathways for exactly what does and doesn't need to be disposed of in sharps bins. For example syringe drivers and apo pumps. Are the syringes classed as medicinal waste and therefore need to go in sharps or can they go in household waste?
i don't have answers but this kind of thinking is what will move us forward and stop us doing what we have always done. Keep going!
Good Morning. I am happy to pick this up. Let me reach out to our team now to provide this information. Happy to pick up any waste, reuse or recycling queries for any EWC codes.
I have an answer from a key clinical waste provider for you:
Syringes or anything that has medicinal residue needs to go into a sharps bin or a pharmaceutical waste bin that will then be sent for incineration.
These can not go into household waste.
Sharps have to be disposed of in sharp burn bins for High Temperature incineration for all used items.
Regarding the pumps, because these would usually have residual medicines in them, it has to go for incineration, currently.
If the syringe has been used for non-medicinal, saline for instance, then the Trusts may have initiatives around recycling these but it is unlikely.
It would be driven by individual trust waste policies and procedures.
I hope this helps
Hi Debra, thanks for the message. So if understand correctly, waste is sorted and infectious waste is burned. Does the UK use autoclaves for medical waste on-site or is it all processed by companies like yours?
Dan McElroy we actually have a new directive in the Uk for medical waste under the HTM 07-01 directives. If you are happy to share your contact information- which you can do by a private message on here I can enlighten you further on the categorisation and treatment. We are always looking for recycling options and hace schemes for things like inhaler recycling
If you have any other specific Healthcare wastes please advise the nature of the product, and I can review disposal options for you.
Thank you Debra, that's really useful information. I am going to go through the process of both apomorphine pumps and syringe drivers to look at clinical wastage - for example community nurses using sterile glove packs, when gloves are not indicated, and exactly what should go in the sharps. In the community auto claves are not used. It sounds like minimising sharps waste will be difficult.
Helen Lodge if you are happy to send your contact details privately on this forum, I have some literature which may be of support.
I've private messaged my email thanks Debra
Please log in or sign up to comment.
Thanks Trevor. Do your waste streams get treated on site or is a third party responsible for picking it up? It sounds like, from earing from others that the UK incinerates everything.
Dan McElroy all our waste is collected by a third party and removed for incineration (90%+). This is streamed - half to high temperature clinical and the rest to municipal incineration. occasionally some gets diverted to landfill when local incineration is at capacity