COMMON WASTE
Mercury Containing
Stericycle, in conjunction
with the ADA, strongly
recommends recycling
as a best management
practice for dental offices.
DO DON’T
• Place all mercury containing waste, • Do not put mercury containing materials in
in a wide-mouthed airtight container. the regular garbage, regulated medical waste
Materials “red bags” or in sharps containers for disposal.
• Dental • Amalgam Capsules
• Dispose of all mercury containing
Amalgam • Dental Traps
waste with a licensed service. • Do not flush amalgam waste down the
• Extracted Teeth drain or toilet.
• Thermometers
Containing Dental
Amalgam • Blood Pressure Cuffs • Do not mix with hazardous wastes.
X-Ray Waste • Use a hazardous waste hauler to dispose of your • Do not mix fixer with the developer.*
fixer, developer*, lead foils, shields and aprons.
• Fixer • Do not dump developer* into a septic system,
• Lead Foil • Label your used fixer container “Hazardous Waste – storm drain, dry well, or on the ground.
• Aprons Used Fixer“ along with the date the fixer was
first added to the container.
• Do not place in regular trash or regulated
• Developer*
medical waste containers.
• Recycle used fixer through a reclamation facility,
licensed to accept hazardous waste, or through
a hazardous waste hauler.
* Follow local and state regulations for disposal of developer.
Regulated Medical Waste • Place all contaminated sharps waste in a puncture and • Do not place sharps directly into red bags.
leak resistant container that is labeled with the words
• Sharps Waste • “Red-Bag Waste”
“Sharps Waste” and the international biohazard
• Do not overfill sharps containers.
- needles - gauze**
symbol or the word “BIOHAZARD”. • Do not place sharps containers or regulated
- syringes - bandages**
medical waste in the regular garbage or
- scalpels - gloves** • Label “red bag waste” with the words “Biohazard
hazardous waste containers.
- blades Waste” or the international BIOHAZARD symbol.
• Do not place regular trash or
• Dispose of regulated medical waste using a
licensed hauler for regulated medical waste.
hazardous waste in regulated
medical waste containers.
** Soaked with blood and/or other potentially infectious material.
Pharmaceutical Waste • Identify if you have pharmaceutical • Do not assume that all pharmaceuticals
waste at your office. are non-hazardous.
• Expired Medication
• Empty Carpules • Inventory all pharmaceutical materials and
determine if they are considered hazardous or
non-hazardous (this is waste characterization).
• Dispose of all pharmaceutical waste properly
based on the waste characterization.