Medical Waste Disposal in Ohio
Healthcare facilities like hospitals, blood banks, etc., produce 15% hazardous medical waste (needles, syringes, etc.) & 85% non-hazardous medical waste (masks, plastics, etc.). These wastes are contaminated by blood, body fluids, or other infectious diseases. That’s why Specific Waste Industries is proud to offer reliable, cost-effective, and regulated medical waste disposal in Ohio for all sized facilities. As a regionally owned and operated licensed disposal company, Specific Waste Industries can help dispose of low/high medical waste volumes for single-site or multisite healthcare facilities by meeting all the cradle-to-grave requirements. Call us today!
Professional Medical Waste Management in Ohio
After being in this industry for over 40 years, we have gained professional medical waste management experience in the Ohio area. Besides disposing of all healthcare waste streams properly, we also assist our Ohioan clients with the complex disposal regulations under the Ohio Environmental Property Agency’s (EPA’s) standards. We also strive to offer timely scheduled pickups with exceptional customer service, no hidden fees, and cost-effective service that guarantees the safe disposal of all hazardous and non-hazardous medical waste and maximizes savings.
Here are the types of Ohio medical waste disposal services that we provide:
- Regularly Scheduled Services: Our scheduled service ensures that your medical waste is collected and disposed of on a predetermined day and time. We provide hassle-free and reliable service to minimize disruptions to your day-to-day operations.
- One-Time Pickup: For facilities that require an occasional large-scale pickup, we provide call-in services to handle your medical waste removal needs. Whether you’re going through a facility renovation or producing a higher volume of waste due to the seasonal influx, our team is ready to accommodate your disposal needs.
Talking about the pickup frequency, we offer daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, annual, and one-time pickup options. Unlike our competitors, we have our own treatment facility to treat waste and do not have to send it to another treatment facility.
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We Offer Various Medical Waste Disposals in Ohio
With Specific Waste Industries, you will get a partner who has all the resources and knowledge to stand by your healthcare practice. Here’s the breakdown of our disposal services:
Pathological Waste Disposal
Pathological waste refers to biological materials like tissues, organs, body parts, and fluids that are generated during medical procedures, surgeries, and autopsies. Since these wastes are potentially infectious, it’s crucial to dispose of pathological waste safely. We help most healthcare facilities follow strict guidelines for pathological waste disposal in the Ohio area. By offering specialized, labeled, and leakproof containers to collect pathological waste, we transport it to our licensed medical waste treatment facility, where it undergoes incineration to eliminate any infectious agents, making it safe for final disposal. With this service, we help protect both the environment and public health, ensuring that harmful pathogens are not released into the community.
Chemotherapy Waste Disposal
Chemotherapy waste includes items used during cancer treatment, such as drugs, equipment, and contaminated materials. These wastes are hazardous due to the toxic and potentially carcinogenic properties of chemotherapy agents. We provide proper chemotherapy waste disposal in Ohio. At first, we collect and segregate these materials in specially designed containers. Then, we transport it to our facilities, which are fully equipped to handle all medical waste streams, including hazardous waste disposal. By adhering to these disposal methods, we minimize the potential environmental and health risks.
Pharmaceutical Waste Removal
Pharmaceutical waste is expired, unused, or contaminated medications and drugs. So, proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste is crucial to prevent environmental contamination and safeguard public health. In the Ohio area, we dispose of pharmaceutical waste by identifying RCRA hazardous and DOT hazardous materials, as well as DEA and state-specific classifications. With our service, we provide specialized containers to store pharmaceutical waste securely and ensure safe collection and transportation of the waste for different facilities/pharmacies that generate pharmaceutical waste. Our waste treatment facility destroys pharmaceutical waste by incineration, rendering, or chemical treatment. On top of that, we also handle medical marijuana waste disposal in the Ohio area, which is treated similarly to other pharmaceutical waste which is disposed of in accordance with state regulations.
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Ohio Medical Waste Requirements and Regulations
Division of Materials & Waste Management at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manages Ohio’s medical waste disposal regulations. Our medical waste disposal facility helps your business stay in compliance with Federal and State of Ohio regulations.
According to the Ohio EPA, infectious wastes are:
- Cultures/stocks of infectious agents
- Laboratory wastes that were in contact with several infectious agents
- Pathological wastes
- Waste materials from isolation rooms
- Human/animal blood specimens or blood products
- Contaminated animal carcasses/body parts/bedding
- Sharps generated in the treatment of humans or animals
- Waste materials generated in the diagnosis, treatment, and immunization of humans or animals
Ohio EPA classifies healthcare facilities as:
- Small Quantity Generators: Those who generate LESS than 50 lbs per month
- Large Quantity Generators: Those who generate MORE than 50 lbs per month
For facilities that generate or who have generated MORE than 50 lbs of infectious waste in any calendar month, you must register with the Ohio EPA. Additionally, you should obtain a certificate of registration to become a Large Quantity Generator. Healthcare facilities should also quantify their waste generation rate by keeping separate records of weight in pounds on a monthly basis.
In healthcare facilities, all the storage areas must be labeled with ‘Warning: Infectious Waste’ or with an international Biohazard symbol. All the outside storage must be locked, ensuring protection from animals. All of the waste inside the storage must be in a non-putrescent state.
Safe Disposal of Biohazardous Medical Waste in Ohio
As medical waste experts in the Ohio area, we serve several facilities that generate biohazardous medical waste, like:
- Hospitals
- Dental Offices
- Chemo Centers
- Acupuncturist
- Tattoo Parlors
- Dialysis Centers
- Urgent Care Clinics
- Funeral Homes
- Surgery Centers
- Labs
- Animal Clinics
- Schools
- Blood Banks
- Nursing Homes
- Health Departments
- Blood Banks
Here’s how we properly handle biohazardous waste in the Ohio area:
Step 1: Segregation and Collection
Our first step is to help you segregate waste. For this, we offer the very best medical waste containers that are clinically engineered. Our reusable containers are:
- Prior sanitized to kill bacterial load in each fill
- Leakproof, tamperproof, and fully sealed
- Color-coded
For instance, we use red biohazard containers that are typically used to collect items like contaminated gloves, gauze, sharps (needles and scalpel blades), and pathological waste. These containers are labeled with warnings with biohazard symbols.
Step 2: Storage
We will then designate a storage area for biohazardous waste to prevent leakage, spillage, and unauthorized access. We train our clients to store the containers in a manner that effectively minimizes the risk of contamination.
Step 3: Transportation
Then, our licensed medical waste transporters will collect and transport the biohazardous waste from healthcare facilities to our disposal facility in compliance with state and federal regulations. During transportation, our experts will secure the waste in leakproof and tamper-evident containers.
Step 4: Treatment and Disposal
At our treatment facility, we treat biohazardous waste to reduce or eliminate the biological risk. Some of our common treatment methods include incineration and autoclaving (steam sterilization). After treatment, we move the waste safely for final disposal.
Step 5: Final Disposal
We also dispose of the treated waste in a manner that complies with Ohio’s regulations. This method involves landfill disposal in a particular landfill that is authorized to accept biohazardous waste and has the necessary safeguards in place to prevent contamination of the environment. For some particular waste that requires additional regulations, we follow the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) specifically for hazardous waste.
Step 6: Record-keeping
After waste disposal, we maintain detailed records of the waste we handle, from the point of generation to final disposal. We document every step of our medical waste disposal so that this documentation will help ensure accountability and regulatory compliance of your facility.
Step 7: Compliance Training
On top of that, we implement strict safety measures to protect employees, the public, and the environment. We do this by providing training and personal protective equipment for workers, maintaining secure storage and transportation, and having contingency plans in place for emergencies.
All in all, our waste disposal facility in Ohio adheres to the regulations set forth by the Ohio EPA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Our facility undergoes periodic inspections to ensure compliance with these regulations. As we are the experts in medical waste disposal and management in the Ohio area, we help protect public health and the environment.
Choose the Best Medical Waste Disposal Services for Ohio
With our expertise and dedication, we provide the best medical waste disposal service in the Ohio area. For safe, reliable, and compliant medical waste disposal, contact Specific Waste Industries – your waste removal experts! Our waste removal services include sharps disposal, document shredding, and hazardous waste disposal services in Ohio.
Call us at 877-425-2770. And let us take care of your medical waste so you can focus on providing top-notch healthcare services.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
According to Ohio’s EPA codes, a healthcare facility that generates more than 50 pounds of infectious waste must register with the Ohio EPA and get a certificate of registration to become a Large Quantity Generator. Similarly, in these facilities, all the storage areas must be labeled with “Warning: Infectious Waste” or with an international biohazard symbol or lock the storage area.
Medical waste is always taken to commercial treatment facilities like Specific Waste Industries, which uses approved treatment methods like autoclaves and incineration technologies to treat infectious waste before disposal. Sometimes, healthcare facilities have on-site approved infectious waste treatment technologies.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency regulates medical waste disposal in the Ohio area. It has specific Ohio Medical Waste Requirements and Regulations, which are managed by the Division of Materials and Waste Management at the Ohio EPA. Medical wastes, such as solid and infectious waste regulations, are the main focus of this agency.
No. medical waste is infectious but not hazardous.
15% of the medical waste that a healthcare facility generates is hazardous. Hazardous medical waste includes sharps (needles, scalpels, etc.), infectious waste (swabs, lab cultures, etc.), radioactive (radiotherapy liquid, lab research liquid, etc.), pathological (human fluids, blood, etc.), pharmaceuticals (contaminated vaccines, expired pills, etc.), chemical (batteries, heavy metals, etc.), and genotoxic waste (carcinogenic, teratogenic, etc.).
Incineration and autoclaving are two main ways to dispose of medical waste. Incineration means burning hazardous waste materials at high temperatures and destroying contamination. On the other hand, autoclaving is a process of sterilizing material using saturated steam under pressure. Both of these methods effectively sterilize biomedical waste and make it safe for disposal.