Biomedical Waste

There are approximately 38,000 facilities in Florida that generate biomedical waste. These include hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, laboratories, funeral homes, dentists, veterinarians, physicians, pharmacies that provide vaccines, body piercing salons, tattoo shops, transporters, and storage and treatment facilities. The objective of the biomedical waste program is to protect health care workers, environmental-service staff, waste haulers and the general public from risks associated with potentially infectious biomedical waste.

Both the Department of Health and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have responsibilities under this program. The Department of Environmental Protection has primary responsibility for biomedical waste incineration and final disposal. The Department of Health has primary authority and responsibility for facilities that generate, transport, store or treat biomedical waste through processes other than incineration.

• Biomedical Waste Statewide Coordinators
• Registered Biomedical Waste Transporters
• Local Sharps Collection Programs
• Home Management of Sharps (Needles, etc.)
• Trauma Scene Clean Up Providers

• Chapter 64E-16, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) (60kb PDF)
• Section 381.0098, Florida Statute