Guidelines for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies: 1. Introduction: 1.3 The cost of disposal of waste pharmaceuticals: The cost of waste pharmaceutical high temperature incineration

Guidelines for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies
(1999; 36 pages) [French] [Spanish]

Table des matières

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
	1.1 Background
	1.2 Prevention of waste from pharmaceutical donations
		Appropriate donations
		Good donations may be wasted
	1.3 The cost of disposal of waste pharmaceuticals
		The cost of waste pharmaceutical high temperature incineration
		Quoted weights of pharmaceutical waste
	1.4 Purpose of the guidelines
		What the guidelines do not cover
	1.5 Who will find the guidelines useful?
	1.6 Administrative aspects of writing-off unwanted pharmaceuticals
	1.7 Steps to be taken
		Decision
		Approval
		Planning
		Forming work teams
		Health and safety of work teams
		Sorting
		Disposal
		Security
	1.8 Consequences of improper disposal or non-disposal
	1.9 Public information
2. Disposal methods
	2.1 Return to donor or manufacturer
		Cross-frontier transfer of pharmaceutical waste
	2.2 Landfill
		Open uncontrolled non-engineered dump
		Engineered landfill
		Highly engineered sanitary landfill
	2.3 Waste immobilization: encapsulation
	2.4 Waste immobilization: inertization
	2.5 Sewer
	2.6 Burning in open containers
	2.7 Medium temperature incineration
		Halogen content of pharmaceutical waste
	2.8 High temperature incineration using existing industrial plants
	2.9 Chemical decomposition
3. Sorting categories
	3.1 The objectives of sorting
		Practical advice on sorting
	3.2 Optimum conditions for sorting
	3.3 Sorting categories
	3.4 Pharmaceuticals and other materials which can still be used
	3.5 Expired or unwanted pharmaceuticals
	3.6 Hazardous or potentially hazardous non-pharmaceutical materials
	3.7 Recyclable material
4. Recommended disposal methods by sorting category
	4.1 Solids, semi-solids and powders
		Anti-infective drugs, controlled drugs and antineoplastics
		Other drugs
	4.2 Liquids
		Pharmaceuticals with no or low toxicity
		Other liquid pharmaceuticals (except controlled drugs, antineoplastics or anti-infective drugs)
	4.3 Ampoules
	4.4 Anti-infective drugs
	4.5 Controlled substances
	4.6 Antineoplastics
		Special treatment for antineoplastics
		Antineoplastic drug disposal
	4.7 Disinfectants
	4.8 Aerosol canisters
References
Further reading
Annex I: Disposal by incineration
Back cover

The cost of waste pharmaceutical high temperature incineration

Pharmaceuticals are ideally disposed of by high temperature (i.e. above 1,200ºC) incineration. Such incineration facilities, equipped with adequate emission control, are mainly to be found in the industrialized world. Quotations for disposing of the pharmaceutical waste in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in this way range from US$2.2/kg to US$4.1/kg. To incinerate the current stockpile of waste pharmaceuticals in Croatia would therefore cost between US$4.4 million and US$8.2 million.