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Legislation

6. Hazardous Waste Regulations.

Hazardous waste is commonly defined as any waste that poses an increased threat to human health or the environment. Any waste could be harmful if it is managed badly or disposed of illegally. However, these risks are very small when hazardous waste is managed properly and production, transportation and disposal of hazardous waste is monitored by the government using Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005*. These regulations have been designed to simplify the documentation associated with the collection and disposal of hazardous waste and bring the UK in line with EU legislation. The ultimate objective is to improve waste management and better human health and the environment as a whole.

Hazardous waste is now legally defined by the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) which provides a consistent approach to classifying waste across all EU countries. Significantly, this means an additional 180 types of waste have been reclassified as hazardous. These waste types cannot be collected as general waste and must be segregated and disposed of separately. These wastes include:

- Fluorescent tubes
- Aerosols
- Fridges
- Computer screens
- Lead batteries
- End of life vehicles

Examples of the properties that render wastes hazardous are:

- Irritant (Class H4)
- Toxic (Class H6)
- Carcinogenic (Class H7)
- Infectious (Class H9)

The implementation of Hazardous Waste Regulations in 2005 has also impacted the definition of clinical waste. Some waste that was previously defined as clinical, such as sharps, swabs and blood dressings are now classified as hazardous if they contain or could contain infectious substances. If you cannot guarantee that your clinical waste is free from infectious micro-organisms then the waste should be treated as hazardous waste.

Under the 2005 regulations, only pharmaceuticals that are classed as Cytotoxic or Cytostatic will defined as hazardous. It must be stressed that even though they are not classed as hazardous, Non-Cytotoxic/ Cytostatic medicines must still be dealt with correctly. All prescription medicines should be separated for other wastes and can only be collected by an authorised waste carrier for disposal via incineration.

Released by The Department of Health in December 2006, 'The Safe Management of Healthcare Waste' provides guidance to standardise waste practices across both the waste industry and the healthcare sector. Please see Clinical and Healthcare Waste - A Brief Guide for more information.