September 10th, 2002
Purpose: The subject of this guidance is spent sharps (hypodermic needles and lancets) generated from non-commercial sources, in-home medical use and discarded sharps collected by public health and public safety personnel during their normal work activities. The purposed of this guidance is to pilot a management approach for sharps by providing sufficient flexibility form the requirements of 310 CMR 16.06 and 19.015 to facilitate the safe collection and disposal of sharps generated by such small volume, non-commercial sharps users, specifically, residential users, public health personnel and public safety personnel ("Sharps Users").
The goal of this pilot program is to reduce the presence of sharps in solid waste as well as their presence in the environment as a result of illegal disposal. After two years, the Department will evaluate this pilot program and decide whether program changes, including regulatory changes, may be appropriate to permanently implement this approach.
Applicability: This policy applies to locations identified as the point of collection for sharps generated by the Sharps Users identified above and is limited to pharmacies, medical facilities and municipal facilities which choose to participate. Pharmacies, medical facilities and municipal facilities may not collect sharps generated offsite by Sharps Users except in accordance with this policy. Failure to comply with this policy may result in the participating pharmacy, medical facility or municipal facility being considered a solid waste facility subject to all provisions of 310 CMR 16.00 and 19.000.
Background: Spent sharps generated from in-home medical use such as in the treatment of diabetes and discarded sharps collected by public health and public safety personnel during their normal work activities can pose significant problems when disposed in municipal solid waste. The in-home user generally disposes of sharps by placing them in a rigid plastic container and then discarding the container in the solid waste stream where, as a result of compaction and other transportation related activities, the containers may rupture causing the needles to become loosely dispersed throughout the waste stream. Uncontained sharps can pose a health and safety problem to personnel employed in solid waste facilities, where personnel inspecting bags for banned wastes or removing recyclables from the waste stream can be inadvertently punctured. Public health and public safety personnel often find spent sharps that have been illegally discarded to the environment and collect these discards in an effort to protect the public from accidental exposure through puncture. These personnel often have difficulty lawfully disposing of sharps because of the limited number of collection locations.
Policy: Under this pilot program, the Department will allow certain locations to be the point of collection for used sharps from the Sharps Users identified above. The Sharps Users may bring his or her sharps in containers that are leak proof, rigid, puncture resistant and shatterproof to a facility (pharmacy, medical, or municipal) which has chosen to participate, where he or she will deposit them in a Collection Container specially designed to receive and transport them (hereafter "Collection Container"). As soon as the spent sharps are placed into the Collection Container at the pharmacy or other participating location, they have been discarded and become a regulated solid waste. The point of generation of this waste is the participating pharmacy, municipal facility, or medical facility. In order to be eligible to participate in this program, the participating facility must:
The transporter who picks up the waste at the participating location is also responsible for providing an annual report to the Department (Chief, Waste Branch, Business Compliance Division, Bureau of Waste Prevention, Boston Office) describing the amounts (pounds) of sharps managed under this policy.
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