Of course, when it comes to medical waste disposal of any kind, safety and compliance are still crucial elements in keeping the public and environment healthy. It is now up to each state’s environment and health departments to decide how to best regulate the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of their state’s medical waste. You can read up on your particular state’s regulations here.Apart from some variations among states, managing medical waste disposal follows five key stages:
- Segregation: what treatment does the waste require?
- Packaging: what receptacle does it get stored in before it’s transported?
- Transportation: medical waste must be safely and securely transported to a treatment or disposal facility.
- Treatment/Destruction: Depending on if the medical waste is Regulated Medical Waste (RMW), a treatment or destruction method must be assigned.
- Disposal: The treated medical waste is disposed of in a landfill or approved sewer system.