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Pharmaceuticals are the medicinal drugs manufactured on a large scale in Pharmaceutical companies. Thus, produced Drugs need a safe and efficient delivery, as they affect the shelf-life of the drug. Poison Prevention Packaging Act (PPPA), enacted in 1970, was mainly based on Child resistant Packaging. Whereas, in 2002, guidelines for using Pharmaceutical bags in pharma packaging contain specifications. These guidelines are helpful for the safe disposal of Pharmaceuticals, causing no harm to public health and the environment.

• The Size of the package
• The Specification of the package
• The Thickness of the packaging material
• The Quality of the packaging material

The choice of packaging material depends on the degree of protection. The raw materials used in packaging may be Cardboard, Paper, Glass, Plastic, Metal, and Rubber. Among these, biodegradable Plastic bags are in great demand made of Low-Density Polyethylene(LDPE). Such Pharmaceutical Plastic packaging made of LDPE does not react with the product and does not impart an odor to the product.

Medical Grade Plastic Bags

In Packaging Medical grade products, much more attention is needed as the medical products are temperature sensitive. Therefore, Pharmaceutical products need special Medical grade Plastic bags, to resist the changes in temperature. Pharmaceutical products are mainly drugs that are chemically synthesized to cure immunological diseases. These are very expensive and need to be properly packaged to ensure the efficiency of the drug. Therefore, special Pharma bags are chemically designed in Industries, which are made up of Low-Density Polyethylene(LDPE). It is an important first-grade Polyethylene, produced under high pressure through free radical polymerization. As it is translucent, non-reactive and can withstand high temperatures, it is most commonly used as plastic bags. It is also less adhesive, therefore more often used in medicine as well as in the Pharmaceutical field.

Medical Waste Bags

Disposal of Wastes generated in Medical facilities and Clinics has become a day to day challenge. Collecting such disposals at regular intervals requires bags until they are transported to the disposal facility. Medical waste needs to be disposed to ensure the safe recovery of the patients, as they cause contamination and sometimes being hazardous, need safe handling until processing. In turn, hazardous medical wastes contain Sharps such as needles, heavy metals such as mercury in a thermometer when broken, Chemical wastes such as left-over laboratory solvents, Anatomical wastes such as tissues lead to Trauma and infection. Such wastes are enumerated as medical wastes and are disposed of in red color Medical waste Disposal bags. This medical waste disposal bag is then sealed off to prevent the leakage of contaminants. There are specific guidelines for handling the disposal of Sharps as they need to be disposed of in puncture-proof medical disposal bags. These guidelines provide advice where official assistance is not available for the safe disposal of Medical waste and are as follows

• A needle attached syringes, needles, Slides, saw blades and any other sharps that can pierce the skin easily should be disposed of in a puncture-resistant container or bag.
• Only close the container when it reaches a maximum full level as specified on the container, after which the container is placed in receptacles lined with red bags with specifications.
• These red bags are then disposed of through incineration or landfill.

HOW TO CHOOSE MEDICAL WASTE BAGS FOR PHARMA DISPOSAL

medical waste disposal bags

Among the Medical wastes, some waste can undergo degradation and are referred to as Biowaste or bio-medical waste. Such bio-waste segregation requires bags or containers, depending on the category of bio-waste. There is a wide range of bio-waste categories, such as Solid wastes, Liquid wastes, contaminated and discarded medicines, wastes of cultures and many more. These are collected in Biowaste disposal bags, which are available in different colors based on the category of the bio-waste. Biowaste disposal bags are coded in color and labeled such that the identification of the bio-waste and transportation or storage is made easy. Choosing of Medical waste bags for Pharma disposal is based on the colour, in which Red color Biowaste disposable bag has opted for Chemical Treatment, Yellow Colour Biowaste disposable bag has opted for Incineration, White translucent and Blue color Biowaste disposable bag is opted for shredding after chemical treatment and Black color Biowaste disposable bag has opted for disposal in Landfill.

Among these, the safe disposal of pharmaceuticals is achieved through incineration process but it is cost-effective ( as it requires high temperatures at about 1,200 degrees C), as it involves minimal risk to public health and environment. Being cost-effective several other disposal methods are available which are less expensive and less complicated such as Landfill, waste immobilization through encapsulation or inertization, Medium temperature incineration, Novel high-temperature Incineration, and Chemical decomposition.

At Medium temperature incineration and Novel high-temperature Incineration, pharma disposal containing Solids, Semi-solids, Powders, Anti-neoplastics and controlled.