Waste Management

Pathways to Better Living Pty Ltd – Waste Management Policy

Introduction

This policy provides the guidelines for waste management. Correct and efficient waste management can enhance the organisation’s reputation, benefit the community and the environment and minimise exposure to infection and disease. Wherever possible, waste should be reduced and a culture of proactive recycling, reusing and composting encouraged. Reducing waste and actively recycling also reduces the cost of waste disposal.

Waste produced is generally one of the following categories:

• General waste including:
  • General household waste
  • Food waste
  • Sanitary waste, incontinence pads and disposable nappies
• Clinical waste including:
  • Used bandages and dressings
  • Blood-stained body fluids, materials or equipment
• Sharps waste including:
  • Needles and syringes with needles
  • Finger prickers, lancets or blades
  • Auto-injectors such as EpiPens
• Pharmaceutical waste including:
  • Expired pharmaceutical products
  • Pharmaceutical products no longer required
• Green organics including:
  • Grass clippings
  • Grounds maintenance
  • Flowers
  • Raw fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee beans
• Recyclables including:
  • Paper and cardboard
  • Glass jars and bottles
  • Aluminium and steel cans
  • Aerosol cans
  • Hard plastic (PET) bottles and containers
  • Plastic bags
  • Printer toner cartridges
• Sensitive waste including:
  • Printed material with personal or confidential information
  • Computers, storage devices and mobile phones used to store or handle personal information
  • Computer media (hard disks, CD’s and USB memory keys) used to store personal information
• E-waste including:
  • Computers and computer parts
  • Photocopiers and printers
  • Mobile phones
  • Medical equipment
  • Household appliances such as TVs, radio, microwave ovens, irons and coffee machines

PPE

For more information on PPE (personal protective equipment), refer to the WHS policy

Out of Scope

This policy does not cover anatomical, cytotoxic or radioactive waste

• Applies to all sites
• Applies to all workers including key management personnel, full time workers, part time workers, casual workers, contractors and volunteers

General Waste

General waste is any waste not recyclable or categorised in other waste categories. General waste is insecure and not appropriate for sensitive information as this could increase risks of data breach (refer to the Information security policy). General waste is not suitable for clinical waste or sharps due to the risk of injury or infection from these.

To reduce general waste, green organics, recyclables and E-waste should not be disposed of in general waste.

To comply with this policy:

• General waste should be reduced wherever possible
• Recyclables should not be placed in general waste but recycled wherever possible
• Clinical waste and sharps must not be disposed of in general waste at any time
• Pharmaceutical waste must not be disposed of in general waste at any time
• Where possible, green organic waste (including garden waste and kitchen scraps) should be composted or disposed of in organic waste rather than general waste

Infectious waste

Infectious waste (also known as clinical waste) is any blood-stained fluids or material such as bandages or dressings. Infectious waste carries a risk of infection so must not be disposed in general waste. Infectious waste must be placed in separate bins designated for infectious waste and stored in a secure location for collection by a qualified waste management service that handles infectious waste.

To comply with this policy:

• do not dispose of infectious waste in general waste
• do not dispose of sharps in infectious waste
• when emptying infectious waste bags, PPE must be worn including gloves, apron and protective eyewear
• do not fill infectious waste bags more than two-thirds of their capacity and secure the contents before closing the bag
• do not secure infectious waste bags with staples or anything sharp
• store infectious waste in a secure area with restricted access until collection by a suitable waste management service.

Sharps

Incorrect disposal of sharps i.e. in a plastic bag for general waste, could expose workers and participants to risk of injury and infection. To reduce risks, place all sharps immediately after use in a sharps-approved container (usually yellow) for disposal by a qualified waste management service that handles sharps.

To comply with this policy:

• Always dispose of sharps in a sharps-approved container
• Do not place sharps in any non-sharps approved waste such as general waste or clinical waste
• Always dispose of sharps immediately after use
• Do not attempt to recap needles
• Do not attempt to retrieve anything from a sharps container
• Do not fill a sharps container more than three quarters full or beyond the “fill” line
• Lock sharps-approved containers in the medication cupboard when not in use

Pharmaceutical waste

Pharmaceutical waste includes pharmaceutical products expired or no longer required. If placed in general waste, these items are potentially dangerous and harmful to the environment.

All pharmaceutical waste:

• Must be returned to a pharmacy for safe disposal
• Must not be placed in general waste

Green Organics

To reduce general waste, green organics should be composted or placed in garden waste bins for collection by local government curb side collection, if available. Sites with gardens/yards should compost kitchen scraps to reduce general waste and to enrich the environment. Composting is best done using a compost bin on the ground to attract worms and is mixed with dead leaves, shredded paper and/or mulch to help the compost process. Once broken down, matured compost can be used to benefit the garden.

To comply with this policy:

• If possible and feasible, kitchen scraps (raw fruit and vegetable scraps, raw egg shells, used coffee beans) should be composted with organic garden waste rather than disposed of in general waste
• Green organic garden waste and lawn clippings should be placed in organic waste collections operated by local governments (if available), collected by a waste management service or composted on site

Recyclables

Wherever possible, recyclables should always be recycled to reduce general waste. Everything that can be recycled should be recycled or reused, this includes:

• Curb side collection (local government, where available) or a waste management recycling service for recycling:
  • Paper and cardboard (including newspapers, egg cartons, cardboard boxes and cardboard product packaging)
  • Glass jars and bottles
  • Aluminium and steel cans
  • Aerosol cans
  • Hard plastic (PET) bottles and containers
• Soft plastic recycling at local supermarkets (where available) for recycling:
  • Plastic shopping bags and all soft plastic such as food wrappers and product packaging
• Toner cartridge collection services for:
  • User toner cartridges from photocopiers and laser printers
• E-waste collection services for:
  • TVs, computers, radios, household appliances
• Mobile phone recycling services for:
  • Old mobile phones
• Whitegoods recycling services for:
  • Refrigerators, ovens, air conditioners or other whitegoods

To comply with this policy:

• Recyclables should be recycled wherever possible
• Recyclables should not be placed in general waste
• Used toner cartridges should be recycled where possible (for more information, refer to ‘Planet Ark’
• Plastic bags should be returned to the local supermarket and placed in bins provided for soft plastics recycling where possible (Coles and Woolworths).

Sensitive waste

To reduce risks of data breach (where personal information is accessed by someone unauthorised):

• Sensitive paper waste must either be shredded or disposed of in secure paper recycling bins for collection by a secure document destruction service
• Do not dispose of printed material containing personal or confidential information in general waste
• Computers, computer storage, mobile phones, media and USB memory keys used to store personal information should be disposed of by a qualified secure E-waste service

E-waste

If placed in general waste, E-waste can be dangerous and harmful to the environment. E-waste:

• Should be disposed of using an E-waste disposal service
• Including mobile phones should be recycled using mobile phone recycling services (see MobileMuster)
• Including used toner cartridges should be recycled where possible (see Planet Ark)
• Including computers, storage devices, media and USB memory keys used to store personal or confidential information should be disposed of using a secure E-waste destruction service

Hazardous waste

Hazardous waste refers to any waste that has the potential to harm humans or the environment. When managing hazardous waste we will comply with all current legislation and local health district requirements.

Some examples of hazardous waste includes:

• pesticides
• batteries
• motor oils
• old computer equipment.

We will minimise the risks associated with hazardous waste by utilising a variety of risk mitigation strategies. These include:

• following the storage suggestions given by the manufacturers
• buying the smallest amount possible for our needs
• storing hazardous upright with lids secured tightly
• keeping ignition sources, such as matches, away from the storage area.

We will dispose of hazardous waste in accordance with all current legislation and local health district requirements. This includes taking part in recycling initiatives in our local area and employing specialist waste removal services, if required.

All information about waste disposal is part of our waste management plan.

Handling waste

To reduce risks of injury or illness always wear PPE (personal protective equipment) that is appropriate to the type of waste handled.

Handling of waste bags should be minimised and when handling, workers should wear appropriate PPE to reduce risk of injury.

Waste management responsibilities of key management personnel

• Overall waste management policy including waste reduction strategies
• Ensuring each site is serviced by an appropriate waste management service
• Ensuring workers are trained to dispose of waste and recyclables in correct bins
• Ensuring bins are correctly labelled or signposted to assist workers to correctly sort waste
• Facilitating and encouraging composting of green organics and raw kitchen scraps where possible
• Ensuring sensitive paper waste is shredded or disposed of using a secure document destruction service rather than disposed in general waste
• Ensuring sensitive E-waste is disposed of by a secure E-waste destruction service
• Ensuring workers comply with this policy
• Auditing waste management policy and practices

Waste management responsibilities of workers

• Disposing waste in the correct bins provided
• Recycling all recyclables as directed by key management personnel
• Not disposing sharps, clinical or pharmaceutical waste in general waste
• Not disposing sensitive waste in general waste or insecure recycling

Training

All workers involved in waste management (including in managing infectious or hazardous substances) will be appropriately trained. This includes induction and refresher training in:

• managing different types of waste
• using PPE or any other clothing required when handling the waste or substances
• implementing waste management practices throughout their duties
• the location of appropriate cleaning tools, chemicals and PPE
• risk management strategies associated with different forms of waste in the workplace.