Clean Harbors Launches Single Container Plan for Pharmaceutical Waste

Clean Harbors Inc. is launching a program that would allow healthcare facilities to dispose of both hazardous and non-hazardous pharmaceutical waste in one container.

Clean Harbors, of Norwell, Mass., has developed the One Container Program for pharmaceutical waste disposal at hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities, the company said in a news release. Clean Harbors said with the program frontline clinicians don’t have to dispose of each waste in separate containers, which substantially reduces non-compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) waste disposal rules that can result from waste segregation disposal systems.

Traditional separation on site requires extensive training among a broad range of employees, Clean Harbors said. Noncompliance with RCRA rules can result in fines of up to $37,500 per day per incident.