The volume of waste from funeral parlours will be considerable. Most of this will be liquid waste comprising blood and other body fluids plus embalming fluids collected during what is euphemistically termed ‘care of the body’ and sold heavily to the bereaved.
The volume of solid waste will be much less, though there will be some small volumes generated on a regular basis. It is not unreasonable to expect that much of that small volume of solid waste comprising gloves and aprons, gowns, dressings etc goes in the box with the body, for burial or cremation.
Most needles and blades will be reused but these together with various instruments will be discarded at some time, together with various equipment items and pumps etc.
That is a practical and obviously low cost solution, but an enthusiastic regulator from the Local Authority or Environment Agency might see this as a breach of waste regulations since the route for disposal is not ‘approved’. However it seems that this simply does not happen but this is not a zero waste industry.
Liquid wastes are discharged to sewer, though this is at best questionable. The liquid effluents from a funeral parlour will include substantial volumes of blood and body fluids, embalming fluids comprising either formaldehyde + methanol or isopropanol + borax, and large volumes of disinfectant solution. The volumes may be considerable and discharges from a large and busy funeral parlour can be considerable. Where is the discharge consent?
A recent news report from South Africa records the fine of R300 (about £24 !!) handed down to a funeral parlour caught illegally dumping its “bloody” medical waste in the Clermont neighbourhood.
Though guidelines exist for infection prevention and control and for waste management in the funeral services industries, and of course many companies operate to high standards with contracts in place for the disposal of clinical and hazardous chemical wastes, there are many corners cut. Cost is a major driver, together with the economies of scale that make this prohibitive for the smaller high street operator where competition is great and margins small.