Pharm-E-cology®: The development of knowledge and systems designed to minimize the destructive impact of pharmaceutical waste on the environment and to insure compliance with state and federal regulations in a cost effective manner.

Who needs to know?

Anyone in the healthcare industry responsible for the management of waste streams which include pharmaceuticals.

What regulations are involved?

At the federal level, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) , (pronounced rec-rah) regulates the disposal of all solid waste, including hazardous chemical waste. Many pharmaceuticals become hazardous chemical waste when discarded.

At the state level, every state except Iowa and Alaska is an EPA-authorized state and promulgates its own hazardous waste regulations which may be more stringent than the federal regulations. The PharmE® Waste Wizard provides state-specific alerts.