University units with sharps waste and human pathological waste should take note of recent changes to the University’s biohazardous waste streams.
Sharps waste: Labs and facilities on upper Seattle campus that autoclave their sharps containers must now ship them via the University’s waste contractor, which can accept both treated (i.e., autoclaved) and untreated sharps waste. An alternative option is to transport untreated sharps waste to Lab Services in the Health Sciences Building for treatment and disposal (for a fee). This change is due to operational changes in the Health Sciences Academic Services & Facilities (HSASF) unit. HSAFS is no longer accepting treated sharps waste from units/departments outside of Health Sciences due to funding constraints.
Human pathological waste: All human pathological waste (except items intended for cremation) generated at any UW location must be shipped for off-site treatment via the University’s waste contractor. An exception is extracted human teeth containing amalgam which are collected by EH&S as hazardous chemical waste due to the amalgam content.
If you are on the Seattle campus and haven’t yet set up an account with the University’s waste contractor, complete the Bio-Hazardous Waste Collection Request Form on the Lab Services website.
All personnel who package and ship regulated medical waste off-site, including sharps waste and human pathological waste, must complete the EH&S Shipping Regulated Medical Waste online training course.
The Biohazardous Waste Flow Charts on the EH&S website are updated:
- Main Campus and Leased Facilities
- Magnuson Health Sciences Building
- University of Washington Medical Center
- Harborview Medical Center
Refer to the EH&S Biohazardous Waste webpage, the Biohazardous Waste Management Plan, or Biohazardous Waste Flow Charts for more information, or contact EH&S Biological Safety at ehsbio@uw.edu or 206.221.7770.