Medical waste

Currently, only hospitals with more than 40 beds and pathology laboratories are required to be licensed for Activities Producing Listed Waste under the Environment Protection Act 1993 (the Act).

All other facilities such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians and nursing homes are regulated by the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010  (W2R EPP).

All medical waste produced from the above activities has historically been required to be disposed of only by incineration at an EPA licensed site however the W2R EPP now enables the EPA to approve alternative methods of treatment or disposal for medical waste in addition to incineration.

Persons transporting (for fee or reward) medical waste from the above premises are required to be licensed as waste transporters.

Generators of medical waste from any other activity must comply with section 25 of the Act. The guideline, Medical waste: Storage, transport and disposal provides further information on compliance requirements.

Incineration

Medical, quarantine and pharmaceutical wastes require incineration to ensure the safest and least harmful disposal possible.

This method of disposal has been occurring in South Australia for many years. Currently there is only one commercial operator providing this service. For more information, please contact us at (08) 8204 2000 or 1800 623 445 (non-metropolitan callers), or by email.

The Environmental Protection Act 1993 requires this facility to be licensed and has imposed conditions of licence requiring monitoring of emissions, to ensure compliance with their authorisation and the Environment Protection (Air Quality) Policy 2016.