Find the latest updates on waste regulations.
If you can’t find what you need, contact us!
Your manufacturing facility’s wellbeing relies on its ability to identify and properly dispose of hazardous wastes. Learn how to make this process safe and secure.
Avoiding these common hazardous waste violations can save your business from significant fines, penalties, and injuries which could result in lawsuits.
Materials are considered hazardous waste in Pennsylvania if they’re determined to be a threat to the environment or human health when not properly stored, transported, treated, or disposed of.
Test If your university, company or facility generates hazardous waste, you need to do test everything in your power to avoid improper hazardous waste disposal. Take steps to make sure that all waste, and especially hazardous waste is disposed of properly and safely. This process involves numerous steps, knowledge of hazardous waste laws, and attention to details. If your business or university needs to dispose of hazardous waste, know that YOU are the responsible party throughout the waste transfer process, even after it has been transported off-site for disposal.
Be aware of the regulations regarding disposal of medications, whether they’re expired or not. Strict regulations that govern how you can dispose of expired medications are in place, both on federal and state levels. Don’t put your facility at risk due to improper or unsafe medication disposal processes. One particular area of confusion relates to shipping expired medications to a reverse distributor.
One of the biggest benefits hazardous waste management companies can offer pharmacies is their expertise on expired medication disposal. Because it is so common for various medications to expire in a pharmacy and require proper disposal, every pharmacy should be fully up to date on the protocol for proper medication disposal (and the consequences for failing to follow that protocol).
As generators of hazardous waste, it’s critical for universities to have written, documented hazardous waste disposal guidelines for their employees. These help ensure safety regulations are known throughout the university campus and not just certain rooms or buildings on a campus. Every department that has anything to do with hazardous materials should know and understand these laws. If your university is without such guidelines or documents, create one.
If your facility produces any kind of hazardous waste, you need to be aware of your EPA generator status and how to legally avoid registering – and paying the fees of – a large quantity generator. The large quantity status also comes with plenty of additional regulations and paperwork to ensure compliance with federal and state laws. Taking certain steps can reduce your classification as a large quantity generator – saving you money, hassle, and paperwork.
Hydrogen sulfide created by drywall gypsum when in proximity to other biodegradable materials is nauseating, toxic, and highly flammable. Approximately 26 billion square feet of drywall was sold in the U.S. last year, of which 10-to-12 percent becomes unusable waste from cutting & trimming to spec. That means 2.6-to-3.12 billion square feet of drywall waste needed to be discarded last year, all of it requiring hazardous waste disposal.
Improper hazardous waste disposal leads to groundwater and soil contamination that negatively affects people and animals coming into contact it. Such exposure can cause serious illness, disease, and potentially death. To prevent negative impact on humans and the environment, regulations are instituted with safety in mind, and a large part of that safety component is the use of waste codes.
