AdvoWaste Medical is licensed and insured to handle all of the following types of waste:
Biohazardous waste
Regulated medical waste
Infectious waste
Red bag waste
Sharps waste
Chemotherapy waste
Pathological waste
Animal waste
Amalgam waste
Overclassified waste
Non-hazardous pharmaceutical waste
General waste, also called residual waste, is material from businesses and households that cannot be recycled. It includes materials such as non-recyclable plastics, polythene, some packaging and kitchen scraps.
The following materials are defined as biohazardous or biomedical waste:
- Sharps waste
- Human and nonhuman primate blood, tissue, body fluids and cell lines
- Cultures or stocks of pathogenic agents, including bacteria, rickettsia, fungi, viruses, protozoa, parasites, prions and select agents
- Recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids (recDNA), including waste products from procedures involving plasmids, viral vectors, E.coli, yeasts and naked nucleic acids
- Laboratory waste items (i.e., used PPE, culture dishes, tubes) that have come into contact with a biohazard
- Animal waste, carcasses and body parts that have been exposed to recDNA or any biohazard
- Human pathological waste
- Plant waste, including all transgenic plants, seeds, spores, plant debris and soil materials, and any plants exposed to plant pathogens
Infectious waste is waste contaminated with blood and other bodily fluids (e.g. from discarded diagnostic samples),cultures and stocks of infectious agents from laboratory work (e.g. waste from autopsies and infected animals from laboratories), or waste from patients with infections (e.g. swabs, bandages and disposable medical devices).
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a by-product of various nuclear technology processes. Industries generating radioactive waste include nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power, manufacturing, construction, coal and rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing. Radioactive waste is regulated by government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment.
- Infectious Waste
- Pathological Waste
- Isolation Waste
- Over classified waste
- Sharps Waste
- Chemotherapeutic Waste
- Regulated Medical Waste
- Red Bag Waste
- Pharmaceutical Waste
Regulated medical waste (RMW), also known as biohazardous waste or infectious medical waste, is the portion of the waste stream that may be contaminated by blood, body fluids or other potentially infectious materials, thus posing a significant risk of transmitting infection. There are several categories of waste that are typically classified as RMW, and each category has special handling requirements.
The following six medical wastes are commonly regulated by states:
- Contaminated sharps
- Isolation waste
- Human blood and blood products
- Cultures and stocks of infectious agents (microbiological waste)
- Contaminated animal carcasses, body parts and bedding
- Pathological waste
Chemo waste includes materials contaminated with or used during the preparation and administration of chemotherapy. Uncontaminated chemotherapy waste items can be treated as regulated medical waste, and belong in their own waste category.
Chemotherapeutic waste is medical waste that is contaminated through contact with or has previously contained chemotherapeutic agents, including but not limited to: gloves, gowns, towels, syringes, intravenous solution bags and attached tubing, etc. In order to be considered “trace” chemotherapeutic waste, item must be “RCRA empty”, containing less than 3% by weight of the original quantity of hazardous drugs.
Pharmaceutical waste is any chemical product, vaccine or allergenic, not containing a radioactive component, that is intended for the use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or injury in humans or animals.
Some examples of pharmaceutical waste include physostigmine, warfarin, and chemotherapeutic agents are examples of relatively common pharmaceuticals that are regulated as biohazardous.
Pathological waste is defined at LBNL as any recognizable human or animal body part and tissue. The most common pathological waste found at LBNL is an animal carcass. Pathological containers must be lined with a red biohazard bag before depositing waste.
Pathological waste is a human pathological medical waste includes tissues, organs, and body parts and body fluids that are removed during surgery or other medical procedures, and specimens of body fluids and their containers.
Overclassified waste is waste that is not managed or defined as regulated medical waste, chemotherapy or pathological waste. This waste includes non-hazardous pharmaceutical waste and other types of waste that is not regulated, but warrants being disposed of in a secure and documented manner.
Pharmaceutical waste is any chemical waste product, vaccine or allergenic that does not contain a radioactive component and that is intended for use in the diagnosis, care, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease or injury in humans or animals. Pharmaceutical waste assigned a P or U waste code, or exhibiting characteristics of Corrosivity, Ignitability, Reactivity or Toxicity are considered hazardous waste and cannot be picked up by AdvoWaste Medical. In addition, AdvoWaste cannot pick up any DEA or controlled pharmaceutical substances.
