Medical Waste Law Amendment Provides Greater Flexibility for Managing Sharps

On July 23, Michigan’s medical waste law was updated to provide greater flexibility to facilities managing sharps. Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bill 482, amending the Medical Waste Regulatory Act. The amended law took immediate effect. 

What’s Changed: The revisions apply only to sharps containers. Sharps include needles, scalpels, syringes and lancets. The revisions allow sharps containers to be accumulated for up to 18 months from the date the first sharp is placed into the container before disposal is required if the container is no more than 75% full. Previously, containers had to be disposed after 90-days regardless of how full they were. The law change will cut overall disposal costs and reduce the volume of plastic sharps containers in Michigan landfills. Facilities can implement this change immediately and should update their medical waste management plans and waste disposal contracts as soon as possible to reflect the change. See the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s downloadable medical waste management plan for more details. Questions? Please email the Medical Waste Regulatory Program or call Andy Shannon at (517) 230-9800.