Managing pharmaceutical waste can be time consuming and create difficult compliance and training challenges. Convoluted sorting practices can wreak havoc when asking your staff to try and learn what goes into which container, and non-compliance can result in significant financial risk. Our Pharmaceutical Waste services offer much needed simplicity and much desired peace of mind.
Download Park Nicollet's Pharmaceutical and Hazardous Waste Case Study
Download Fairview Pharmaceutical and Hazardous Waste Case Study
OneContainer® Program
Clean Harbors offers a very unique, customer-centric approach to managing pharmaceutical waste. Because we own several unique incinerators, we do not require the same segregation as other providers. This allows all of your waste to go into a single container for disposal. Our OneContainer Program eliminates hours of having your employees stepping away from their jobs in order to segregate and document waste. Our program not only gives you that time back but eliminates ongoing training, extra containers throughout your facility and the risk of non-compliance. And the great news is that due to the efficiency of our system, there is little to no additional cost from what you’re incurring today.
Our facilities are uniquely permitted, so for those who still choose to segregate, there is no risk of returned containers or fees for non-compliance.
Download the OneContainer™ Overview
DEA Controlled Substances
Clean Harbors has a solution for managing your DEA controlled substances. Contact us for more information.
Subpart P: Important information your company should know about the EPA’s Hazardous Waste Management Rule
Subpart P is a new group of healthcare specific regulations covering hazardous waste pharmaceuticals generated at healthcare facilities. The EPA now recognizes that healthcare is fundamentally different from other industries that generate hazardous waste. Their regulations have been updated to reflect that change.
Who does this new rule affect?
These new regulations apply, but are not limited to
- hospitals
- pharmacies
- clinics
- veterinary hospitals or clinics
- wholesale distributors or retailers
- Pyrophoric, gases, aerosol, unknown, reactive, explosive and shock-sensitive materials
- Ethers, THF, dioxane and sodium azide
What does the EPA consider ‘pharmaceutical’?
- prescription medication
- OTC (over the counter) drugs
- dietary supplements
- compounded drugs
- investigational drugs
- personal protective equipment (PPE) contaminated with pharmaceutical waste
- clean-up material from pharmaceutical spills
- any item for which the FDA requires a “drug Fact” sheet
When do these rules become effective?
For the moment, current Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) rules are enforced. Although Subpart P Rule is final, it will not become effective until six months after publication in the Federal Register. Individual States are required to adopt the rule, but they will have the ability to make changes. Actual rules and effective dates will differ by state.
Clean Harbors will continue to closely monitor these regulatory changes. For more information and updates, consult our Subpart P FAQs as well as this link.