Solid Waste/Biomedical Waste Management

Biomedical Waste Management

In 1987, the Maine Legislature amended the Maine Hazardous Waste, Septage and Solid Waste Management Act in response to concerns about the potential public health and environmental hazards posed by medical waste. The Amendment defined pathogenic and infectious wastes as hazardous waste and directed the Board of Environmental Protection to adopt rules regulating the handling and disposal of biomedical waste. Public concern was driven by a series of hypodermic needle wash ups on popular public beaches and the emergence of several highly infectious diseases.

Solid Waste Management

Solid waste was already a problem long before water and air pollution issues attracted public attention. Historically the problem associated with solid waste can be dated back to prehistoric days. Due to the invention of new products, technologies and services the quantity and quality of the waste have changed over the years. Waste characteristics not only depend on income, culture and geography but also on a society's economy and, situations like disasters that affect that economy.

There was tremendous industrial activity in Europe during the industrial revolution. The twentieth century is recognized as the American Century and the twenty-first century is recognized as the Asian Century in which everyone wants to earn ‘as much as possible’. After Asia the currently developing Africa could next take the center stage. With transitions in their economies many countries have also witnessed an explosion of waste quantities