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Waste treatment
Waste treatment
The management of pharmaceutical waste involves dealing with various forms of waste, including discarded peripheral equipment (test kits, dispensers, syringes, etc.), expired products, packaging and manufacturing waste. Effective methods for disposal are crucial to prevent pollution and protect the environment. Regulatory bodies and waste management strategies play a significant role in ensuring the proper handling of (usually hazardous) pharmaceutical waste.
When considering waste management is important to refer to the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC. This directive outlines the 'waste hierarchy,' which recommends how to reduce the depletion of natural resources and prevent environmental degradation. It includes measures such as prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, and disposal. There is a degree of flexibility when defining these waste management actions so to be broadly applicable, but it can lack clarity on certain aspects. Chemical manufacturing plants must deal with hazardous wastes, be it solid, liquid, or gas, which must be managed appropriately.
The waste hierarchy in the common triangle representation.
Prevention in the context of pharmaceuticals could be achieved by a reduction in packaging, eliminate over-prescription of medicines to avoid expiration prior to use, or more robust supply chains (and reliable energy provision in some regions) to avoid spoilage of temperature-sensitive medicines.
Reuse is not an obvious route to waste prevention in terms of pharmaceutical products, but it could be applied to dispensers and packaging. In manufacturing, reaction catalysts are often reused, especially in the context of flow chemistry.
Recycling is routinely performed on packaging via household waste collections, but it also applies to manufacturing plants. Solvents are often recycled by distillation. More can be done to improve recycling rates with specific design innovations and improved, more widespread recycling infrastructure. This is being encouraged through policies such as the circular economy.
Recovery usually refers to waste incineration where energy is reclaimed, often by heating water to drive a steam turbine. Materials are rated as more valuable than energy, which is why recovery is after recycling in the waste hierarchy. After all, a recycled material could be incinerated (with energy recovery) later once one more use has been acquired from it.
Disposal in landfills, or litter, is an unacceptable loss of material value and should be avoided. Pharmaceuticals are metabolised as part of their intended function and excreted. This form of disposal is unavoidable. When chemicals are released into the environment as part of their function, they shall be biodegradable, and ideally made from renewable resources too. Then they are compatible with a circular economy. Incineration without energy recovery is also categorised as disposal because no value is retained. Many single use medical devices will be incinerated because of contamination. Public health must be the priority but in some instances sterilisation could be more appropriate.
References
References
Waste framework directive: European Commission, 2008.
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