Regulations for the Acceptable Disposal of Nutritional Supplements

Hello my friends,

What regulation must be satisfied for the disposal of nutritional supplements? We currently handle "probiotic" supplements in a specific fashion as requested, but as for the other supplements, they are just disposed of in the trash. When there is a larger quantity disposed of say several pallets, we pay someone to come and dispose of them simply to avoid overwhelming the waste management system that exists. For a recall or retention, (a larger quantity say 10 pallets worth of product) is there a specific manner the supplements must be disposed of? You always hear about the potential for certain items (i.e. medications) to leach out into ground water and the next thing you know, none of the fish in town can get pregnant due to all the birth control medication that has leached in to the water system. Does anybody know or have experience in this area?

All help appreciated,

Your friend in Texas,

The DuckMan

ouch

Don't take it personally, I think this is new territory for most.

I would ask your town or muninicpality's regulations regarding dumping in the water system. Is there another business similar to your own that you could ask? Do you have MSDS on these items?

Well , to clarify, we don't dump in the water supply, I was only making a reference to my imagination and the possibility of something like our product having that possibility.  We don't actually manufacture any vitamins or products ourselves, we have them manufactured elsewhere and then storred here in our 180,000 sq ft warehouse. On occasion, the last remains of a lot will reach the "best by" date, and we may dispose of several (5-10) pallets worth of product. All "probiotic" forms of supplements and product are quarantined for  controlled disposal. But in the back of my mind I am just afraid that maybe such mass disposal (through normal waste disposal means in our industrial sized compactor/dumpster.

I have been searching through FDA regulations but found nothing. Maybe as suggested the key will be to look here more along municiple and state regualtions for such.

Thank you,

DuckMan

What about contacting someone like Stericycle?  They are a medical waste recycling company.  They may be able to point you in the right direction (or to their services???)

Hello my friends,

 

What regulation must be satisfied for the disposal of nutritional supplements? We currently handle "probiotic" supplements in a specific fashion as requested, but as for the other supplements, they are just disposed of in the trash. When there is a larger quantity disposed of say several pallets, we pay someone to come and dispose of them simply to avoid overwhelming the waste management system that exists. For a recall or retention, (a larger quantity say 10 pallets worth of product) is there a specific manner the supplements must be disposed of? You always hear about the potential for certain items (i.e. medications) to leach out into ground water and the next thing you know, none of the fish in town can get pregnant due to all the birth control medication that has leached in to the water system. Does anybody know or have experience in this area?

 

All help appreciated,

 

 

Your friend in Texas,

 

The DuckMan