Biomedical waste is any waste that is produced from a human or animal. Within the USA there are many of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories, funeral homes, dentists, veterinarians, physicians, and pharmacies that provide flu shots, body piercing salons, tattoo shops, transporters, and storage and treatment facilities. Each of these facilities leave behind biomedical waste that needs to be disposed of. The biomedical waste may include harmful contagion that can easily be distributed with contact, and cannot be dumped like normal waste. Biomedical waste needs to be accordingly disposed of.
Because biomedical waste produces an environmental concern, this waste needs to be dumped properly. This assures the well-being of the workers who extract the samples, the general public, and sanitation workers who dispose of the waste. Biomedical waste needs to be collected in containers that are leak-proof and tough enough to keep the container from being damaged during the collection process. Biomedical waste containers also contain the biohazard symbol in order to avoid confusion of what is inside the container.
Not all biomedical waste should be put in the same container. Needles and syringes for example, need to be segregated from all other waste and be disposed of in their own container. Biomedical waste containers are built for safety from the inside out. Pharmaceutical waste also should be segregated. Each sample should be segregated as hazardous drug waste, non drug waste, and controlled substances. Likewise, chemotherapy and pathological material should also be identified and sorted. Each biohazard waste disposal Green Cove Springs FL container almost always contains extra layers to prevent spilling or leakage of the biomedical material to secure safety.
Across the USA, there are three separate ways to get rid of medical waste. These include on-site disposal, truck service, or disposal by mail. On-site treatment means a facility that produces the biomedical waste has enough space and means to dispose of the waste on-site. There is no need for a third party, they can trash the waste properly.
Truck services is when a company that works in discarding of waste is called. This company will go to the facility that produces the biomedical waste and takes it back to their own facility to be disposed of. This is a fairly simple and preferred practice across the USA. The third method, disposal by mail, is similar to the truck method. The main difference between the truck service method and the mail service is the biomedical material is mailed to the facility.
When the biomedical waste makes it to these disposal facilities, they are managed with the aforementioned care and caution. The entire goal of these businesses is to ensure that the hazardous waste is dumped properly and safely. Each facility uses different ways to dump the waste. Many use incinerators to burn and destroy the waste so that they are not identifiable in the ash. Fire is a effective and fast way to destroy such materials.