Australia has put specific guidelines for disposing of all waste within the country. However, there are a few extra guidelines that apply directly to medical waste. Medical waste can be dangerous because of its possibility for carrying infectious diseases. The waste must be handled carefully and should comply with the following rules as a bare minimum.

Who Can Handle Waste?

Environmental Protection Regulations of 2009 give a clear picture of who and who may not handle waste. These regulations indicates that those who are handling clinical waste disposal must take all measures possible to deliver the waste to a safe, correct disposing location. Only those who are authorized to transport waste should be taking the waste from hospitals. If someone is not authorized, they might not handle the waste correctly, either allowing any infectious diseases to spread or depositing the waste in the wrong location. Additionally, the vehicle transporting the waste must have provided a declaration indicating that the vehicle is fit for transporting waste.

What Can Be Disposed with Waste?

Items that fall under the category of hazardous would be the following: paints, batteries, computer monitors, TV screens, and fluorescent tubes. Anything that contains cadmium and lead or household cleaners fall into this category. Because the above materials are hazardous, it is easier for your waste removal company if you deposit the materials separately. If you deposit them separately, the waste handler can more easily deliver the items to the right location. Because the items above are hazardous, they will not be disposed of in the same way. If you are getting rid of a few computer monitors, etc, you can simply place them to the side of your trash bin to indicate that they are hazardous waste. You could also take them to an appropriate drop-off location yourself.

Hygiene Waste

The service that hospitals provide means that a large amount of hygiene waste is produced. Hygiene waste is not infectious but can be offensive in the way it smells or appears. The category of hygiene waste includes human and/or animal waste, nappies or other material used to collect excretion, nasal secretions, urine, hospital gowns, vomit, and soiled bedding. Because your hospital will produce more hygiene waste than a typical household, it is more helpful to the clinical waste disposal service to package this waste separately. The reason for this is that such waste can produce skin or eye infections along with possible cramps or vomiting on the part of the collection agency.

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