Waste disposal

To know which disposal procedure to apply to a particular biological waste the following questions must be answered.

• Is it biohazardous?
• Is it liquid or solid?
• Does it have a large volume and high concentration?
• Does it have a low, moderate or high biological risk?
• Is it specifically regulated?
• What (chemical or physical) treatment was applied?
• Does this treatment guarantee its harmlessness?

Non-biohazardous biological wastes are disposed of as normal waste except those in the category of special waste (e.g. human corpses and remains, uninfected experimental or domestic animal corpses and remains, with chemical and/or radioactive contamination, etc.).

Whenever possible, biohazardous wastes, before being disposed of as normal waste (reclassification), must be inactivated (including group I and non-GMO agents, especially if their volume and concentration are high) and processed to avoid causing unnecessary alarm (resistant, closed and non-transparent bag with a non-biohazardous waste label). Waste that cannot be inactivated securely (e.g. sharps, carcasses, infected organs and tissues, etc.) or which comes from BSL-3 facilities must be treated by an outside contractor licensed by the competent authorities.

Remember that using biohazardous waste containers as containers for non-biohazardous waste has a serious economic and environmental impact. Uncontaminated waste such as gloves, papers, tubes, etc. they must go into group II bags to be disposed of as non-hazardous waste.