There are two types of Healthcare Waste:: Non-Risk Waste & Risk Waste.
Non-Risk Waste is not hazardous to those who come in contact with it. It is non-infectious, non-radioactive or non-chemical.
Risk Waste is potentially hazardous to those who come in contact with it.
It can be Infectious, biological, chemical or radioactive content, or categorised as a sharp
Waste will not be accepted by a facility unless it is accompanied by a valid WTF. The WTF is a mandatory consignment document used for tracking and controlling the movement of hazardous waste within Ireland and is used to ensure that the consignment is delivered to an authorised facility.
Compliant waste management is critical in the protection of people, the environment and our communities.
Poor waste management exposes employees, waste handlers and the community to infections, toxic effects and injuries. Such as air, water pollution, disease and needle stick injuries.
Failure to correctly segregate, store, transport and treat healthcare waste can result in pollution, prosecution, fines and bad publicity.
In Ireland the mixing of waste streams is prohibited by law - the waste producer is legally required to correctly segregate, label, package and store their waste.
The national colour-coded segregation system identifies and segregates waste on the basis of waste classification and suitability of treatment/disposal options.
When segregating waste you must consider both the appropriate waste type (colour) and the appropriate packaging (container/bag).
Offensive healthcare waste is waste generated by healthcare activities that is not infectious and doesn’t contain medicines, chemicals or sharps, but may cause offence to anyone who comes into contact with it.
Most producers of healthcare waste will generate some offensive waste so it’s likely that you do need to introduce this waste stream. It’s a legal requirement to segregate hazardous wastes (such as infectious waste) from non-hazardous wastes (such as offensive waste).
It’s the responsibility of the producer of the waste to correctly describe and classify their waste. For determining whether or not waste is infectious, this usually means the healthcare practitioner is responsible.
In practice healthcare practitioners often receive support in doing this from infection prevention practitioners and waste management professionals, who will assist hospitals and other healthcare facilities in drawing up policies and procedures in accordance with best practice guidance.
Hazardous waste producer returns are sent to the producer or holder of the waste, i.e. to the premises that the consignment of waste was collected from. This may differ from the consignor of the waste.
Anatomical waste includes body parts or other recognisable anatomical items that may be offensive to those who come into contact with them. These include:
• all human and animal tissue (including organs, bones, limbs, digits or parts thereof) with the exception of very small unidentifiable pieces of skin or flesh incidentally removed from treatment of wounds or during very minor surgery (for example mole removal, nail clippings etc);
• retained or stored (including preserved) human tissue requiring disposal including recognisable items and all tissue samples (e.g. on blocks and slides)
Anatomical waste should always be packaged in a rigid container with a black lid. It should never be packaged in bags.
For most producers of anatomical waste the usual frequency of healthcare waste collection is sufficient. If it’s packaged correctly it’s unlikely to cause any probIems. However if the anatomical waste is going to be stored for a long period of time (over a week) it is recommended that the waste is stored by refrigeration.
Stericycle uses bespoke designed vehicles to carry all healthcare wastes, either in wheeled carts or in primary packaging. Infectious and non-infectious wastes are transported in the same vehicle, however for vehicles carrying waste in primary packages the load space is designed to enable segregation to be maintained.
All drivers engaged in the transport of dangerous goods hold the appropriate qualification for the classes of dangerous goods in question as well as holding the appropriate driving license for the classes of vehicle they drive on behalf of the company.
We operate a rigorous routine vetting procedure to ensure that drivers hold the appropriate qualifications and licenses prior to and during their employment with us along with strict adherence to RTA regulations.
Yes: visible medicines or cytotoxic waste must be disposed into purple lid containers.