Healthcare and Clinical Waste Disposal Legislation - Information provided by GW Butler Ltd
In an ever changing world of legislation, waste management and especially clinical waste management has evolved over the last 10 years. Regulators have increased focus on the waste producers’ legal responsibilities. This means that waste producers need to be fully aware of all aspects of their waste management from the ‘cradle to the grave’.
The main legislation:
• The Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1990 (Duty of Care)
• The Controlled Waste Regulations 1992
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005
• The Carriage of Dangerous Goods 1996
• Landfill Regulations (Pre-treatment of Non Hazardous Waste)
• Safe Management of Healthcare Waste (DoH 2006) Guidance document not legislation
The Duty of Care applies to any person/site that produces any form of waste that requires disposal. The Waste producer has a legal responsibility to ensure their waste is stored safely on site, collected by a registered Waste Carrier and taken to a licenced transfer or disposal site. The producers must have written documentation that all waste has been removed and disposed of appropriately and are open to prosecution if this is not completed. The producer is responsible for the waste from the ‘cradle to the grave’.
The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 replaced the Special Waste Regulations 1996. Previously only a small amount of clinical waste was described as ‘special’, this included Cytotoxic Waste. The introduction of the Hazardous Waste Regulations extended the description to encompass a large amount of clinical waste as Hazardous including Cytostatic medicines, dental waste and bags and sharps from certain clinical areas. The responsiblity for determining if clinical waste is hazardous rests with the producer. Hazardous waste also includes general waste items e.g. fridges, batteries etc. Any site that produces over 200kg of Hazardous waste must be registered with the Environment Agency as a producer. They are then issued with an individual premises code which must be detailed on the Hazardous Waste Documentation. The disposal site is legally bound to send returns to the Environment Agency every quarter detailing movements of hazardous waste from every site. The Environment Agency then charge the disposal site £5.00 for a multiple collection and £10.00 for a single collection. Understandably this cost is past to the waste producer by the disposal site along with additional administration charges. The disposal site is also legally bound to issue returns (details) to the waste producer and these returns plus the Hazardous Waste documentation must be kept for 2 years for inspection by the Environment Agency.
Landfill Regulations – as of the 30.10.07 landfill sites will no longer be able to accept non-hazardous waste unless it has been pre-treated. The objective of pre-treatment is to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. All sites must prove that they are actively segregating/recycling their landfill waste. Producers must show that any waste that is sent for landfill eg general waste or incontinence/sanitary waste must have had some recyclables removed eg paper, plastic or glass.
