Medical Waste Disposal Albuquerque, NM

Medical Waste Disposal Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque remains New Mexico’s largest city with a population of over 550,000. Famed for sitting in the reddish glow of the Sandia (“watermelon” in Spanish) Mountains that run along the eastern side of the city, the Rio Grande river which flows through the heart of the city, and more recently for being home to a high school chemistry teacher by the name of Walter H. White (or Heisenberg to those that know him well). Albuquerque is a diverse city with a large Hispanic community and a rich tribal history.

Albuquerque is also home to the University of New Mexico (UNM), which is probably best known for its department of medicine. The School of Medicine operates in conjunction with the Bernalillo County Medical Center and with such significant healthcare provisions the city takes its medical waste disposal seriously.

Medical Waste Regulation in Albuquerque

In Albuquerque the Solid Waste Bureau (SWB) is responsible for managing and enforcing medical waste regulations defined by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). Since the early 1990s, individual states have been responsible for regulating their own medical waste disposal and New Mexico is now one of 24 states operating an OSHA approved occupational health and safety program. The state has broadly adopted Federal OSHA regulations, but has added some State-specific regulations as well, including construction standards.

The SWB classifies medical waste as an infectious solid waste with unique handling, transportation and disposal requirements. This “special waste” must be handled and treated in this way to ensure the welfare and safety of the professionals that handle the materials occupationally, as well as the wider public and environment. Infectious waste describes a class of by-products or substances that carry a probable risk of transmitting disease or infection to humans. These types of wastes include, but are not limited to:

• Human blood, blood products and bodily fluids – such as blood or used IV catheters
• Sharps – such as used hypodermic needles, syringes and scalpel blades
• Laboratory waste – such as cultures and disposable culture dishes used in clinical research and industrial laboratories
• Pathological wastes – including human or animal tissues or removed body organs
• Disposable equipment – instruments, utensils, and other disposable materials which require special precautions because of contamination by highly contagious diseases;

Medical waste is commonly misunderstood to be any medical product that comes into contact with bodily fluid, or other infectious materials. By OSHA definitions however, waste with only trace levels of contamination can be placed in the normal municipal waste (trash).

Managing Your Infectious Waste

Any generator of infectious waste in Albuquerque is bound by storage and handling regulations whether they are a surgical clinic, a funeral home, a veterinary practice or anything in between. This means containing the waste in such a way that minimizes its exposure to the public and keeps it protected from animal intrusion. Sharps, such as used needles, must be kept in rigid, leak-proof, puncture-resistant containers that are manufactured for the purpose of sharps containment. All of your infectious waste must be segregated, contained and labeled at the point of contamination.

When transporting your infectious waste you must use a vehicle that displays the name or trademark of the hauler and a biohazard symbol. You must not transport untreated infectious waste in the same vehicle with other wastes unless the infectious waste is contained in separate, fully enclosed, leak-proof containers. All manual operators handling the waste must wear protective gloves, shoes and eye wear, and clean coveralls. They must have up-to-date, relevant training certification and label the waste with the generator’s name, the city, and date of collection.

For these reasons transporting your own infectious waste can be very expensive, especially if you are a smaller generator of biomedical waste. Many healthcare facilities choose to use a medical waste disposal company to fulfil these needs that can supply the required vehicles and trained personnel.

Breaking Good

Despite the example set by Walter White, we cannot simply head out to the desert to leave our untreated waste where it can cause harm to passers by and the surrounding environment. Biohazard waste disposal should not be taken lightly as an Albuquerque family in the North Valley discovered in 2010, when a package was delivered to their front porch and appeared to be leaking blood[i]. Luckily none of the family was exposed in this instance, but it demonstrates the potential harm that can arise from improper handling and disposal of medical waste.

In New Mexico infectious waste can only be disposed of at solid waste facilities authorized for disposal of special waste. Treatment and disposal of infectious waste shall be by one of the following methods:

• Incineration in a controlled air multi-chambered incinerator. Waste must undergo complete combustion into carbonized or mineralized ash.
• Sterilization by heating in a steam sterilizer so as to render the waste non-infectious.
• Discharge to a sewage treatment system that provides secondary treatment of waste and only if the waste is liquid or semi-solid and if approved by the operator of the sewage treatment system.

Only an infectious waste incinerator authorized under applicable Air Quality regulations can be used to incinerate infectious waste. Once materials have been rendered non-infectious they can be handled as non-infectious waste and disposed of accordingly.

Contact MedPro Disposal Today

MedPro Disposal offers medical waste pick-up and disposal services in Albuquerque, NM and we can adapt to your needs to create a customized and flexible pick-up schedule. Our services are reliable, effective, safe, environment-friendly, and most importantly, affordable.

Our mail-back service can be a cost-effective solution for smaller practices that generate less waste. Whatever your company’s needs, now or in the future, MedPro Disposal is ready to deliver. Our team of experts and specialists will partner with you in your medical waste management program by offering a low-cost provision of medical waste disposal and OSHA training services.  We will work with your organization to create a customized plan to keep you and your staff safe.