Pharmaceutical

EnviroServ has been helping pharmaceutical organisations manage their waste for more than 40 years. We’ve seen best practice evolve and with new technologies and ongoing research in the pharmaceutical sector, we’ve seen the waste streams evolve.

Despite changes, we understand that certain basics remain the foundation of good waste management: identification, recording, segregation, containment, and labelling. If you can do these properly, then storage, transport, and disposal of waste becomes easier. Each of these activities is complex and requires trained and dedicated attention.

EnviroServ’s experts understand the latest trends and can apply them on your behalf to make waste management a contributor to the success of your operations.

Because pharmaceutical waste includes unused medications, handling it requires not only a high order of technical skill but visible ethics.

Some drugs include metals, endocrine disruptors, and various compounds that are dangerous for humans, animals, and the environment. There is also a risk that inadequately managed pharmaceutical waste could end up in the hands of people who misuse the chemicals.

In addition, pharmaceutical waste is not a single waste stream, but many distinctive ones that can affect the integrity and uniformity of the chemicals from which pharmaceutical are made and negatively impact the environment. These waste streams are generated through a wide range of activities, some pro-active, such as IV preparation and general compoundings, and some accidental, such as breakages. And then there is waste that arises from outdated pharmaceuticals.

There also needs to be a careful choice made among the various management options, ranging from minimisation and to energy recovery and disposal. Disposal may call for solidifying of the waste and sending it to landfill or incinerating in specially designed equipment. And, of course, there needs to be strict compliance with legislation enforceable by ministries as diverse as transportation, health, and the environment.

Our multidisciplinary team would take care of the various waste management streams in ways that would ensure optimal and integrated use of resources, both human and mechanical. Our objective is to minimise the cost and effort of waste management while ensuring that it creates some benefit for the company, in financial, productivity, or reputational and integrity terms.

If you would like to find out about options for your organisation, please contact our Customer Care Line on 0800 192 783 for South African enquiries and click here for the contact details for enquiries across Sub-Saharan Africa.