Environmental protection act

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

the legislation governing waste disposal + states all producers of waste have a duty of care to ensure the correct + proper management of waste is performed + that it is ‘unlawful to deposit, recover or dispose of controlled clinical waste without a waste management license, or in a way that causes pollution of environment or harm to human health’

Question 2

Hazardous waste

Answer 2

Waste that contains substances or has properties that might make it harmful to human health or the environment. The hazardous waste regulations came into force 2005 in England, classified all dental amalgam as hazardous waste.

Question 3

Clinical waste (soft)

Answer 3

defined as hazardous waste, disposed of in orange bags such as blood contaminated + any other waste that may present a risk of infection (saliva infection)
Amalgam, chemically or medicinally contaminated waste should not be stored in this orange bag
once bag is full, needs to be tied with the premises code placed for identification

Question 4

Sharps

Answer 4

defined as hazardous waste, disposed of in yellow lidded bins contaminated with medicines but not with cytoxic/cytostatic wastes
when sharps container are assembled, the nurse should initial + date the container
once it is 2/3rd full (up to black line) should be closed, locked and another initial + date by person who closed the lid. - store in secure and safe place

Question 5

Amalgam

Answer 5

defined as hazardous waste, containers provided for amalgam must contain mercury suppressant (waste, capsules and extracted teeth pot) DEFRA - amalgam separators must be in place to capture all amalgam waste from drainage systems
should be sent to suitably licensed or permitted waste management facilities where the waste undergoes a mercury recovery process prior to final disposal

Question 6

Gypsum (dental plaster)

Answer 6

study models are not usually infectious but gypsum is a controlled landfill waste so segregation is required. The waste contractor will supply the practice with tub for this waste.
gypsum was banned from normal landfill in 2009
exposure to hydrogen sulphide can lead to some adverse health effects e.g breathing, skin discolouration and eye irritation

Question 7

X-ray waste

Answer 7

processing chemicals used for radiographs are fixer, developer + lead foil from films will be disposed of as special waste
fixer + developer chemicals shouldn’t be disposed of in the clinical waste stream - this may cause chemical releases and worker exposure issues

Question 8

Offensive waste

Answer 8

not ‘clinical, hazardous or special’ considered as non infectious - does not require specialist treatment or disposal, yellow bags with black stripes are used. e.g human + animal waste - pads, nappies, sanitary waste, minor plasters

Question 9

Domestic waste

Answer 9

produced in practice such as hand towels, tea bags and known as general waste should be collected by a commercial waste contractor - most offer recycling solutions.
waste deemed confidential should be handled by a separate confidential waste company who will shred on or off site and then recycle the paper.

Question 10

Medicine waste

Answer 10

out of date meds are classed as non hazardous and disposed of in blue lidded container. pharmaceutical waste will require disposal by incineration
this will prevent any persons retrieving medicines and misusing them
not all practices have these containers + may have alternative arrangements

Question 11

Consignment notes

Answer 11

used to track the movements + ensure safe disposal of hazardous waste. also designed to ensure that the information accompanying the waste is suffice to enable safe disposal.
a new consignment note must be completed for each individual collection of hazardous wastes - will consist of producer, carrier + consignee copies
waste producers must retain their copy before the waste is removed from their premises and should be placed in the register.
must be kept for a minimum of three years

Question 12

Responsibility

Answer 12

dental practices have a statutory duty of care to prevent waste escaping, take all appropriate measures to ensure waste is dealt with adequately from production to final disposal.
waste must be correctly segregated, stored safety + securely, packaged for transport, described fully on transfer documentation, transferred to an authorised person and waste site, appropriately registered for hazardous waste with records at the premises

Question 13

Waste management

Answer 13

• accurately describes the container contents of all non-hazardous waste on transfer notes, which must be kept for minimum of 2 years
• accurately describes the container contents of all hazardous waste on consignment notes, which must be kept for a minimum of 3 years
• receives + keeps the quarterly ‘consignee returns’ documentation which records the final destination
• registers with the environmental agency as a hazardous waste producer if more than 500kg is produced annually