Management of Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals
On this page:
New Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals
EPA finalized regulations for the management of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals by healthcare facilities and reverse distributors in a rule published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2019. Learn more about the final rule.
Resources for Managing Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals
Guidance Documents
- Managing Pharmaceutical Waste: A 10-Step Blueprint for Healthcare Facilities in the United States; revised August 2008 (93 pp, 489 K).Exit
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Guidance Memos and Letters
- Chloral hydrate can be U034 (PDF) (11 pp, 56 K)
- Containers that Once Held P-listed Pharmaceutical Waste (PDF) (6 pp, 1.1 MB)
- Cyclophosphamide monohydrate can be U058 (PDF) (2 pp, 32 K)
- Medicinal nitroglycerine that does not exhibit the reactivity characteristic (D003) is not P081 (PDF) (2 pp, 19 K)
- Nicotine as the sole active ingredient of E-liquids (PDF) (4 pp, 698 K)
- Nicotine-containing products that are legitimately recycled are not solid waste (PDF)(3 pp, 586 K)
- Scope of Hazardous Waste Listing P042 (Epinephrine) (PDF) (8 pp, 1.2 MB)
- Scope of Hazardous Waste Listing P046 (Phentermine) (PDF) (2 pp, 211 K)
Healthcare Environmental Resource Center
Pharmaceutical Collection Programs and Events
- Information on Pharmaceutical Collection and Disposal
- EPA's Recommendation for Incinerating Pharmaceuticals from Take-Back Events (PDF) (9 pp, 1.5 MB)
- Management of Household Pharmaceuticals Collected by Law Enforcement During Take-Back Events and Programs