US medical ‘trash’ saving lives abroad
Doctors will often prepare for surgical procedures by opening instrument and supply kits that contain up to 100 items. Many of these items, such as scalpels, needles or sponges, go […]
Blenkharn Environmental
Ireland cleans up another illegal dump
Lawyers representing Wicklow County Council have informed the High Court of the council’s intention to begin the clean up of a large illegal dump in West Wicklow. The dump, at […]
Managing Norovirus infection wastes
New guidelines are hot off the press regarding the management of Norovirus infection in acute and community health and social care settings. Those guidelines, prepared after collaboration between the British […]
Are old ideas the best?
Old ideas are often the best, and in the case of clinical waste treatment from sources at University College Hospital London that is undoubtedly true. Many laboratories produce vast quantities […]
Tissue waste disposal
More on the case of the widow of a US army soldier who died in combat and from whom some body parts once recovered after the incident and from immediate […]
US sending its hospital waste to other countries?
A news bulletin reports that Brazil recently received two containers with 45 tons of illegal hospital waste from the US. Inspectors found bed sheets, dressing gowns, pillowcases, aprons, and diapers, along […]
Secure disposal of anaesthetic and related drug waste
It is almost invariable that, in the anaesthetic room, the operating theatre, in the Intensive Care and Neonatal Units, in A&E and occasionally in the Imaging Department, controlled drugs and […]
Mobile waste gasification units for military applications
Plasma arc gasification is an exciting technology that provides complete destruction of complex waste streams with massive volume reduction. The importance to military operations is substantial as waste management is […]
Acknowledging adverse health effects of military burn pits
Legislation introduced in the House would require the Veterans Affairs Department to create a register for veterans who have health problems they believe are related to exposure to open-air burn […]
Hepatitis B virus infection among medical waste handlers in Addis Ababa
Hepatitis B virus infection among medical waste handlers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is a real problem. In a detailed research paper from that country, the incidence of Hepatitis B was […]
Illegal medical waste dump sites cleared
“The four illegal medical waste dumping sites in and around Welkom have been cleared and rehabilitated, according to the National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report (NECER) 2010/11 released on Thursday. […]
Changing trends in community healthcare
There are changing trends in community healthcare driven largely, though not exclusively, by the need for cost saving. This places many more patients into the community, from early hospital discharge […]
US hospital saves $100,000 with ‘green’ practices
The Johns Hopkins University Hospital has saved $100,000 over a number of months by reducing its medical waste by 16 percent and by putting it in the correct containers. “Red […]
Clinical waste dumped – South Wales
Recycling bins outside the Red Lion pub in Hendy, Carmarthenshire, have been removed after clinical waste was dumped in them. Glass recycling bins were taken away by the council after […]
Drug & needle takeback
The Clinical Waste Discussion Forum generally supports the US concept of community collections of unwanted pharmaceuticals and related hazardous household wastes and, unique to US where no better system exists, […]
Placenta recipes
Disposal of placentas is a costly and troublesome undertaking. The numbers are vast. With around 720,000 live births per annum, and a full term placenta weighing around 0.45kg, that is […]
It’s all your fault!
Who is responsible for pharmaceutical wastes? For high costs of supply crippling NHS budgets? For drug residues in the environment? Well, if you live in NE Scotland, it’s probably yours. […]
Ill-advised in Ilminister?
The old women’s public loos in Ilminster look set to be given a new lease of life. South Somerset District Council, which owns the property, has spent several months trying to lease it […]
Norovirus risk for waste handlers
The Norovirus season will be upon us soon, and though much of the waste – mainly vomit bowls and the like – will go into the washer macerator, a great deal of […]
Pharmaceutical waste management
Whether the waste from pharmaceutical R&D, manufacturing, stocking and over-stocking in pharmacies, over-prescribing or patient non-compliance, there is a great need to minimise pharmaceutical waste. The combined aims must be […]
Scavengers united!
On the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum we have previously commented on the fate of rag pickers and other scavengers salvaging items from untreated medical waste and facilitating is repackaging for […]
Illicit salvage for re-use
Reduce, reuse, recycle. It seems sensible but in many countries the reality is of illicit salvage of items from clinical wastes followed by repackaging (of sorts) and reuse, all without […]
‘Syringe pens’ crop up again
It is now some years ago that the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum raised concerns about syringe pens that are promoted as toys for kids, novelties for nurses, even promotional gifts […]
Strike action
Hospital ancillary staff in Queensland’s public hospitals are expected to ramp up industrial action in their fight for a better pay deal. New bans on a range of patient services will […]
Medical waste contaminating blue bins
Thurrock council uses blue bins for domestic recyclacbles. They have been complaining that “some residents are costing it money buy throwing medical waste in their blue bins” – never mind […]
Oxford drug litter
Just beyond sight of the academic and commercial heart of Oxford, drug abuse has come very dramatically to the surface manifest by many used syringes and needles being discarded under a […]
Prescription drug round-up collects over 250,000 pills
It’s easy done, and very effective. Though there is rapidly increasing concern about teh presence of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater, and thereby in natural waters, little seems to be done […]
Vietnam struggles with medical waste disposal infrastructure
More than half of the medical waste incinerators in Vietnam have been left unused because their owners do not have money to pay for fuel and maintenance. Especially, they still do […]
Ask for Evidence!
Sharp eyed visitors will notice a new Ask for Evidence link on our home page. Blenkharn Environmental is pleased to support the Ask for Evidence campaign of Sense about Science. As […]
Infection following sharps injury
There is a foolhardy and sadly widely held opinion that only the three bloodborne viruses – HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C – can be transmitted by sharps injury. That is not […]