Hazardous waste (HW)
Hazardous waste (HW)
As in the case of urban solid waste and special management, the management of hazardous waste basically seeks two purposes. On the one hand, reduce the risks of contact of these substances with humans and the environment; on the other hand, recover useful materials (through recycling and reuse), prepare them to reduce their danger (either through neutralization, incineration under controlled conditions) and confine them in suitable sites for this.
Likewise, the objective of Mexican legislation on PR, since 1988, is to ensure its traceability from its source of generation to its final destination.
According to the National Inventory of Hazardous Waste Generation (INGRP) and the Register of Hazardous Waste Generators (PGRP) of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the total generation of RP in Mexico in 2017 was 2,447,596.58 t., of which 94.7% came from large generators, 4.7% from small generators and 0.6% from microgenerators. It is important to take into account that this figure does not correspond to the total volume of PR generated in the country in that period, basically because said registry does not include all the companies that produce them in the territory.
The Secretariat of Sustainability (SS) through the Directorate of Environmental Management and Operational Safety (DGASO) promotes the implementation of the program for the proper management and disposal of hazardous waste generated by university departments on all campuses, with the objective of Comply with current environmental regulations, said program consists of classifying, storing, managing the transportation and final disposal of waste with companies authorized by federal entities such as the SEMARNAT and the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT).
Hazardous waste of chemical origin
According to the General Law for the Prevention and Comprehensive Management of Waste, a hazardous waste (RP) is a material or product whose owner or holder discards and is in a solid or semi-solid, liquid or gas state contained in containers or deposits, and is capable of being valued or requiring to be subjected to treatment or final disposal, and also contains at least one of the CRETIB characteristics (Corrosive, Reactive, Explosive, Toxic, Flammable, Biological-infectious.
During the year 2022, 61.44 tons of hazardous waste of chemical origin, of which
25.22 tons corresponds to solid waste and
36.22 tons to liquid waste.
Due to the above, the following procedures for classification and collection of hazardous waste were distributed in the university facilities, with the objective that they be used as a basis for the preparation of the "Manual for the environmentally appropriate management of waste" in each of the dependencies that generate this type of waste:
Other consultation tools that provide official information for the identification, storage and transportation of this type of waste are the Official Mexican Standards, such as those cited below:
Among the hazardous waste generated in university facilities, the following can be found:
Within PR management, it is important, first of all, to obtain registration as a generator before the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), based on the average estimate that is generated in a year, locating the category in which are found (micro, small or large generator) with the objective of carrying out management correctly. During the period January-December 2022, 6 university departments carried out the procedures before this federal body and obtained their Environmental Registration Number (NRA) with the support and advice of the DGASO.
The following university departments have adopted the previously mentioned collection and classification procedures into their daily activities given the amount of waste they generate, coupled with the interest they have in implementing sustainable practices in their daily activities:
- Faculty of Chemical Sciences
- Faculty of Forest Sciences
- Faculty of Dentistry
- Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital
- Faculty of Nursing
- Faculty of veterinary medicine and zootechnics
- Faculty of Public Health and Nutrition
- Agronomy faculty
- Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
- Faculty of Public Accounting and Administration
- Biological Sciences Faculty
- Faculty of Earth Sciences
- Faculty of Sciences Physics Mathematics
- Faculty of Visual Arts
- Faculty of Law and Criminology
- Architecture Faculty
- Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations
- Faculty of Sports Organization
- High School No. 1
- High School No. 2
- High School No. 3
- High School No. 4
- High School No. 6
- High School No. 7
- High School No. 8
- High School No. 9
- High School No. 12
- High School No. 13
- High School No. 14
- High School No. 15
- High School No. 16
- High School No. 19
- High School No. 20
- High School No. 21
- High School No. 22
- High School No. 23
- High School No. 25
- Álvaro Obregón Industrial School
- Pablo Livas Technical School
- Medical Technical School
- Center for Research and Development in Bilingual Education
- Tigres Sports Center
- General Services Directorate
- Information Technology Department
- University Health Center (CUS)
- Evaluation Center
- Center for Research and Development in Health Sciences (CIDICS)
- Alfonsina Chapel University Library
- Center for Innovation, Research and Development in Engineering and Technology (CIIDIT)
- Center for Research and Innovation in Aeronautical Engineering (CIIIA)
- Medical Services Directorate
- Sabinas Academic Unit
- Institute of Civil Engineering
- General Directorate of Planning and Strategic Projects
- University Printing Press
Hazardous biological-infectious waste (RPBIs)
They are those materials generated during medical care services that contain biological-infectious agents according to the definition of NOM-087-SEMARNAT-SSA1-2002. During the year 2022, a total of 186.54 t of this type of waste. 75% corresponded to non-anatomical residues and the remaining 25% to the other 4 types of RPBI as shown in the following graph:
The transportation and adequate confinement of this type of waste is carried out by companies authorized by the corresponding authorities (SEMARNAT and SCT), in such a way that 100% of the collected waste is subjected to treatment or adequate confinement in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. current environmental.
Expired medications
Another type of hazardous waste that is generated in most homes and/or workplaces is expired medications. In accordance with current environmental legislation, these wastes are classified as dangerous, so their disposal must be carried out through companies authorized by competent federal agencies (SEMARNAT and SCT), since these companies have the equipment and qualified personnel to apply the security measures necessary to carry out its transportation, treatment and/or final disposal.
Currently, a program to collect expired medicines in the country is in charge of the civil association National System for Waste Management of Packaging and Medicines (SINGREM) and aims to reduce the risks of poisoning of people and damage to the environment. In this program, medications are deposited in containers located in different collection centers such as pharmacies or health centers. Once collected, they are subjected to physical crushing processes and later sent to their final destination.
The UANL currently has 4 collection centers where containers are located for the deposit of this type of waste, they are located in:
- University Pharmacy “Q.F.B. Emilia Vásquez Farías” from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences.
- Medical Technical Preparatory.
- UANL Medical Services (Gonzalitos Unit).
- Nursing Faculty.
These collection centers serve both the university community and the general public.
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