New Jersey Guide To Medical Waste Disposal
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States is one of several regulating entities that issue instructions to medical waste generators. Any facility or business that produces medical waste is referred to as a medical waste generator. Doesn’t this appear to be fairly straightforward?
In addition to federal guidelines, each state in the United States has its own healthcare waste management and medical waste disposal policies and laws. These statutes are not in conflict with federal law, but rather complement it. As a result, it’s common to hear that state medical waste regulations are stricter than those imposed by the federal government.
Which one do you choose to follow? Both. The same can be said for the medical waste restrictions in New Jersey.
Are you familiar with New Jersey's medical waste laws?
Before diving into New Jersey’s medical waste regulations, medical waste generators of any size or volume should familiarize themselves with the state’s definitions for various types of medical waste, such as regulated medical waste, infectious waste, pharmaceutical waste, biohazard waste, and so on. To be extra safe, familiarize yourself with the terms as defined by the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (legislation) as well as the definitions provided by your state’s administrative codes.
The New Jersey Administrative Code (NJAC) 7:26-3A.1 through 7:26-3A.49 contains the governing laws and regulations regarding regulated medical waste in New Jersey.
There’s more to come. There’s always more to discover. Go Green Solutions, LLC is well aware that rules for various waste streams can be available in several locations within government agencies, depending on which agency is responsible for them. A variety of information resources are available in the state of New Jersey. For instance, consider the following:
- Medical waste (RMW) information regulated by the state: Updated July 2016 Guidance Document for Regulated Medical Waste
- Environmental regulations in New Jersey (per the Department of Environmental Protection)
- Medical waste, according to the EPA and the federal government.
- Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials, New Jersey Administrative Codes (N.J.A.C.)
- is a great resource for any medical waste generator in the state is Waste Rules.
It isn’t enough to simply be aware of the rules. You must read, comprehend, and comply with them. Knowing where they are and how to find them isn’t enough. It entails poring over dozens, if not hundreds, of pages of regulations to ensure that you and your healthcare facility are in compliance with regulations regarding healthcare waste management, medical waste disposal, and compliant healthcare waste segregation.
Hazardous waste, hazardous waste facilities, and hazardous waste transportation are all covered by New Jersey state guidelines [7:26G (Hazardous Waste)] (including rail carriers). These regulations include hazardous waste facility registration, operation, closure, and post-closure upkeep. Such factors are the responsibility of New Jersey’s Waste Management Program.
Additional Information about New Jersey Guidelines?
New Jersey’s guidelines, classifications, and regulations are highly complex, and there are many of materials available to help you understand them, as well as the differences in how medical waste streams are handled, labeled, stored, and disposed of. The distinction between specific types of medical waste and aspects of general trash management, for example, is clearly defined in government documents.
In New Jersey, for example, “biologicals” refers to preparations manufactured from living organisms and their products, such as vaccinations, cultures, and other similar items, that are intended for use in diagnosing, immunizing, or treating humans or animals, or in related research.
Any product derived from human blood, including but not limited to blood plasma, platelets, red or white blood corpuscles, and other licensed goods such as interferon, is referred to as “blood products.”
This is a big one: “Destroyed regulated medical waste” refers to regulated medical waste that is no longer generally recognizable as regulated medical waste because all of the waste’s components have been ruined, torn apart, or mutilated into unrecognizable and unusable pieces smaller than three quarters of an inch, with the exception of sharps, which must be smaller than half an inch.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Solid and Hazardous Waste Management is in charge of biohazard waste regulations in the state. Finding specific information about certain topics in healthcare waste management can be difficult, if not time-consuming and frustrating, in some states. New Jersey, thankfully, is not one of them.
The state of New Jersey has released a regulated medical waste generator fact sheet, which is intended to assist healthcare facilities and medical waste generators in the safe tracking, on-site control, collection, labeling, and disposal of medical waste using particular tracking forms. All medical waste generators in the Garden State are encouraged to read the form. This document identifies waste classes and describes how to identify and handle a range of medical waste streams:
- Sharps
- Pathological Waste
- Animal Waste
- Unused Sharps
- Isolation Waste
- Human Blood & Blood Products
- Cultures & Stocks
The document also defines the term “medical waste generator” in detail. Medical waste generators, handlers, transporters, and destination institutions in New Jersey are all required to track their regulated medical waste, no matter how tiny the amount created. Medical waste generator fees are calculated based on waste volume, ranging from less than 50 pounds per year to more than 10,000 pounds per year.
Did you know that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requires every generator, transporter, intermediate handler, collecting facility, transfer station, and destination facility to register? This rule can be found in NJAC 7:26, Subchapter 3A. – Regulated Medical Wastes, under solid waste regulations. Medical waste generators must also register with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as medical waste generators and pay annual fees in compliance with its requirements, according to state guidelines.
Are you aware that regulated medical waste “must not remain at a commercial collection facility for more than 14 consecutive calendar days, including weekends and holidays,” according to DEP regulations? A commercial collection facility that stages or stores garbage for more than 14 calendar days is considered an illegal solid waste transfer station and is liable to all fines imposed by applicable statutes and rules.”
- Fluids (with a volume higher than 20 cm3)
- Other medical waste that is regulated
- Sharps, including sharps carrying residual fluid (Classes 4 and 7, denoting used and unused, respectively).
The fine print is frequently buried in the middle of documents, yet it is critical to locate it. States that follow the cradle-to-grave strategy recognize that it is the medical waste generator’s obligation to know where their “garbage” ends up. In such cases of non-compliance, fines and penalties in the tens of thousands of dollars can be imposed.
Understanding the Rules
In all areas of medical practice, Go Green Solutions, LLC delivers cost-effective and efficient long-term solutions, assistance, and education for healthcare waste management. You must follow the requirements of your state as well as the federal authorities, regardless of the size of your medical waste generator.
Give us a call now for more information or help on medical waste segregation, medical waste disposal, or healthcare waste management solutions that maintain compliance while saving money.