Pharmaceutical Waste Treatment
and Disposal Practices
Part II: Pharmaceutical Solid and
Gaseous Waste Treatment
Dr. Alaadin A. Bukhari
Centre for Environment and Water
Research Institute
KFUPM
PRESENTATION OUTLINES
• Introduction
• Objectives of Treatment
• Incineration of Pharmaceutical Waste
• Air Pollution Control
• Disposal Practices
• Landfilling
• Conclusions
INTRODUCTION
• Solid Pharmaceutical Waste Generation
• Stages of Pharmaceutical Waste Generation
• Pharmaceutical Waste Composition
• Importance of Treatment
SOLID PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE
GENERATION
 About 200,000 tons of sludge produced by
pharmaceutical industry only In USA during 1983
(Nemerow 1984; Arthur. little 1975; TRW Env.
Engg. Div. 1979).
• Ireland generates about 11,110 tons of solid
pharmaceutical wastes annually (Henery et al.
1996)
• In USA on average a single plant generated 200
tons of acetone pollution during the production of
drugs (EPA, 1998)
• More than 1,10,000 pharmaceutical products are
currently in the market (EPA, 1998)
• Around 10 kg/head of population per year or
around 700,000 ton a year of hazardous waste
generated in Saudi Arabia (UNEP, 1998)
Fig 1.0
Fig 2.0
STAGES OF PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE
GENERATION
• In the pharmaceutical manufacturing industries,
waste generated mainly at three stages during the
production of pharmaceuticals (US. EPA, 1998)
Fig 3.0
PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE COMPOSETION
 Organic chemical residues from manufacturing
processes
 Helogenated/non-helogenated sludges and solids
 Sludge & tars
 Heavy metals
 Test animal remains
 Return pharmaceuticals
 Low-level radioactive waste
 Biological products including materials extracted
from biological materials such as vaccines,
serums, and various plasma derivatives.
• Contaminated gloves, filters, clothings, etc
IMPORTANCE OF TREATMENT
Treatment of solid pharmaceutical waste has great
importance because of (Wagner 1991)
 Safety related properties
– corrosive (solvents and acids used in the preparation of
some medicine)
– flammable (most of the medicines containing alcohol,
sprit, tincture etc.)
– reactive (organic acids used as a component in the
preparation of some pain killers and syrups)
– ignitable (most of the solvents used in the preparation
of medicines)
 Health related properties
– irritant (allergic response e.g. penicillin, ferric
compounds)
– toxic when ingestion (medicines for external use e.g.
tincture, potassium iodide etc.)
– radioactive (medicines used for chemotherapy and
cancer treatment)
– carcinogenic ( persistent use of some medicines)
• Treatment of pharmaceutical waste is very
important because improper disposal may also
have an adverse effect on land values, create
public nuisances, otherwise; the failure or inability
to salvage and reuse such materials economically
results in the unnecessary waste and depletion of
natural resources (Eliassen, 1969).
Treatment or Disposal
• There is not much treatment of solid
pharmaceutical waste. Most of the time solid
waste is disposed of.
• Separation and reprocessing of some of the solid
waste also done for recycling purpose.
• Incineration and landfilling of pharmaceutical
solid waste is most common.
OBJECTIVE OF PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE
TREATMENT
• The objectives of pharmaceutical waste treatment
are the destruction or recovery for reuse and/or the
conversion of these substances to innocuous forms
that are acceptable for uncontrolled disposal.
INCINERATION OF PHARMACEUTICAL
WASTE
• Incineration is one of the best techniques for
treating hazardous waste (Crumpler and Martin,
1987;US. EPA)
–
–
–
–
It can be use to recover heat energy
Use as volume reduction method
Use for preheating combustion air
Detoxification of toxic material can be done by
destroying the organic molecular structure through
oxidation or thermal degradation
– Long-term cost of land disposal is likely to be greater
than the short-term cost of incineration.
DETERMINATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS
OF A WASTE FOR INCINERATION
• Is the waste or combination of wastes suitable for
incineration?
• What type of incineration equipment is required?
• What capacity is needed?
• What is the incineration cost vis-à-vis other
management options?
MAJOR TYPES OF INCINERATORS
• Grate Type of Incinerator
It is a low temperature incinerator. It is useful for
volume reduction of bulky waste.
• Hearth-Type Incinerator
Most solid hazardous waste is burned in hearth-type
systems of which there are several basic types:
–
–


The rotary kiln
A "controlled air" or "two chamber fixed hearth" system
The multiple hearth incinerator
The monohearth (seldom used)
• Fludized-Bed Incinerator
Liquids, sludges as well as uniformly sized solids
can be incinerated in it
• In USA hearth-type systems are common
• Following types of incinerator are in operation
– Rotary Kiln incinerators accounts for
– Two-chamber, fixed-hearth
– Multiple-hearth and fluidised bed
75%
15%
10%
Fig 5.0
Fig 6.0
Fig 7.0
Fig 8.0
Incinerator in Saudi Arabia
• Substantial amount of hazardous waste being
generated in Saudi Arabia due to rapid
industrialisation over three decades
• In 1994 Gov. of Saudi Arabia made a contract with
BeeA'h to provide incineration and support
facilities
• BeeA’h is now operating an incinerator in AlJubail City Saudi Arabia
Fig 10.0
Table 3. Typical Operating conditions for
Incinerators
Incinerator Type
Temp.
•
•
•
•
•
•
820-1600
760-980
320-820
720-980
800-1000
480-820
Rotary Kiln
Fluidized Bed
Catalytic Reactor
Multiple Hearth
Multi Chamber
Pyrolysis
SRT (hr)
GRT (sec)
0.3-1
10
-30-90
5-30
12-15
1-3
1-12
<1
0.25-3
1- 4
1-3
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL FROM
PHARMACEUTICAL GASEUS EMISSION
• Air pollution may results from the exhaust
gases release, during incineration operation
• Release of pharmaceutical gases into the
atmosphere is strongly prohibited and air
pollution control is required
• Most of incinerator air pollution control systems
required two functional elements
– particulate removal from flue gases
– removal of acid gases
• Particulate and acid gases are usually controlled
with scrubbers. These scrubbers operate on two
mechanisms:
– physical removal of particulate, and
– chemical removal by absorption and neutralization of
the acid gases
Objectives can be achieve by the use of
• Afterburners ( Sec. Combustion Chamber )
– It is required for solid hazardous waste incineration
because the primary chamber does not provide enough
time, turbulence or temperature to destroy the organic
components of the waste to the required Destruction
and Reduction Efficiency (DRE).
Fig 11.0
• Scrubbers (Venturi, orifice etc.)
– Particulate removal can be done by dry, wet or
by wet-dry combination methods
The dry, particulate removal methods include
–
–
–
–
Impaction-baffles and screens
Centrifugal separation -- cyclone separators
Filtration-fabric filters
Electrostatic-precipitators
Wet methods, which employ water as a medium,
include
–
–
–
–
–
Impaction-packed and tray columns
Centrifugal separation-wet cyclones
Particle wetting-ventures and similar units
Particle conditioning and wetting-collision scrubber
Electrostatic-wet ionizer/precipitator
Typical Scrubbing Systems
•
•
•
•
•
Wet spray towers
Dry spray towers
Packed wet scrubbers
Plate Scrubbers
Electrostatic precipitator
• Wet electrostatic precipitators
DISPOSAL PRACTICES OF
PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE
• The safe and reliable long-term disposal of solid
pharmaceutical waste residues is an important
component of integrated waste management.
• Solid waste residues generated by pharmaceutical
industry, are components that are not recycled, that
remain after processing at a material recovery
facility, or that remain after the recovery of
conversion products and/or energy
Factors require consideration in the
management/disposal of solid
pharmaceutical waste
• Potential hazardous nature of the waste material
• Relatively large volume of material that must be
safely and efficiently handled, transported and/or
disposed of
• Effect of the disposal method on the public and
environment
• Social factors
• Cost economics
Important considerations to determine the
suitability of solid waste disposal sits
• Technical feasibility of the construction and
operation of the installation
• Environmental control
• The social importance of other interests in the
exploitation and utilisation of the area
• Economics of construction and operation of the
installation.
Fig 20.0
Steps for the disposal of solid pharmaceutical
waste (Nemerow, 1978)
•
•
•
•
Segregation
Volume reduction
Incineration
Ultimate disposal
– Landfill disposal: Common land filling
methods are
• .Mixing with soil
• .Shallow burial
• .Combination of these
– Deep-well disposal
• Material pumped into subsurface rock separated
from other groundwater supplies by impermeable
rock or clay. (In USA more than 100 wells are used
for disposal)
– Land burial disposal
• Disposal accomplished by either near-surface or
deep burial
• In near-surface burial material could be disposed
directly into the ground or is disposed in stainless
steel tanks or concrete lined pits beneath the ground.
At the present time, only near surface burial is used
for disposal of pharmaceutical wastes
• Ocean dumping and detonation are some of
expensive waste disposal methods
• Detonation is a processes of exploding a quantity
of waste with sudden violence
– .Thermal Shock
– .Mechanical Shock
– .Electrostatic charge
This method mainly used for flammable and volatile
waste materials
LADFILLS
• Landfills are physical facilities used for the
disposal of residual solid wastes in the surface
soils of the earth
• US. EPA defines landfill as a system designed and
constructed to contain discarded waste so as to
minimize releases of contaminants to the
environment
• Solid pharmaceutical waste usually incinerated but
in some places (e.g. California) most of the solid
PW is landfilled (Nemerow, 1984).
Landfills are necessary because
• Other hazardous waste management technologies
such as source reduction, recycling, and waste
minimization cannot totally eliminate the waste
generated and
• Hazardous waste treatment technologies such as
incineration and biological treatment produce
residues
Fig 21.0
Following guidelines improve the waste
management/disposal system (EPA, 1972)
• Sanitation: Control all conditions that contribute
to contamination, spread of disease, infection and
the irritation, discomfort or impairment of bodily
functions through inhalation, ingestion, or contact
• Safety: Control of all conditions relating to
prevention of accidents or catastrophes that could
cause personal injury or property damage.
• Security: Prevention of unauthorised access to
waste handling and disposal areas to eliminate
pilferage or salvage of hazardous waste, and
accidental contact with contaminated materials
• Aesthetics: Public and users acceptability in terms
of appearance, noise, odours, psychological
factors, convenience, workability of the system,
etc
Conclusions of Presentation
• Treatment of pharmaceutical solid/gaseous waste is
important from health and safety related properties
• There is not much treatment of solid pharmaceutical
waste. Most of the time solid waste is disposed of
• Disposal of solid pharmaceutical waste and
elimination of the emissions from incinerator
operations are very important to protect the land,
water bodies and atmospheric environment
Conclusions of Presentation (continued)
• Landfills are most popular final disposal technique
• Proper design of incinerators and landfills is
important to fulfil the regulatory requirements
• Proper planning, design, and operation are the key
points involved in the disposal of such waste
Thank You