White House Clears EPA Proposal to Relax Pharmaceutical Waste Rules

Date: November 17, 2008

Source: News Room

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared an EPA proposal to relax waste rules for pharmaceuticals, reclassifying them as "universal waste," in an effort to encourage take-back programs and ease disposal requirements for health care facilities. It is part of a larger EPA effort to discourage consumers from disposing of old medicine into the wastewater stream where it wreaks ecological havoc. Under current Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations, many chemicals found in pharmaceuticals are subject to hazardous waste rules which make it very expensive to handle them thereby discouraging pharmacies, hospitals, and municipalities from taking possession of these wastes in the first place.

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