[Pharmwaste] Question regharding incinerators

[Karl Krupp]

Rachel,
North Carolina has a list of pharmaceuticals that are defined as 
hazardous waste. These drugs must be disposed of in a federally 
permitted hazardous waste incinerator or disposal facility. This list is 
not exhaustive however, and there are many drugs that probably should be 
regulated, that aren't. There is a fairly good guidance document at: 
http://www.wastenotnc.org/swhome/MedWaste/Pharmaceutical_Waste_Guidance.pdf 
.

Karl Krupp
Medwaste Workgroup
Health Care Without Harm


rachel golden wrote:
> I have a question regarding the incineration of unused 
> pharmaceuticals.  I am relatively new to the list, so forgive me if 
> this has been discussed before.  I believe that unused drugs in North 
> Carolina sent through a reverse distributor end up being incinerated 
> at a medical waste facility.  The point was recently made that 
> pharmaceuticals are considered hazardous waste, not medical waste, and 
> that the incineration process safe for medical waste is not 
> necessarily safe for drugs.  Does anybody have any information on this 
> subject from anywhere in the U.S.?  Specifically, what are the 
> differences between incinerators built to handle medical waste versus 
> hazardous waste?  Are drugs considered to be medical waste or 
> hazardous waste? 
> I appreciate the help!
> Rachel
> -- 
> Rachel Golden
> Adult Environmental Education Program Manager
> Office of Environmental Education
> NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources
> 1609 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1609
> 919-733-0711 (phone) 919-733-1616 (fax)
> rachel.golden at ncmail.net
> www.eenorthcarolina.org <http://www.eenorthcarolina.org>
>
> Check out the EcoSmart Consumer MySpace page 
> <http://www.myspace.com/ecosmartconsumer> and blog 
> <http://ecosmartconsumer.blogspot.com/>!
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pharmwaste mailing list
> Pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
>   

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20070117/1344c58a/attachment.htm