What States are MED-FLEX licensed to transport medical waste in?

MED-FLEX is licensed to transport medical waste in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware & Maryland.

What areas does MED-FLEX service?

MED-FLEX services Central and Southern New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania. Please refer to our Service Area tab on the main page for a more accurate description of our service area.

What types of waste does MED-FLEX pick up?

MED-FLEX is licensed and insured to handle all of the following types of waste:

• Regulated Medical Waste
• Infectious Waste
• Red Bag Waste
• Sharps Waste
• Chemotherapeutic Waste
• Pathological Waste
• Isolation Waste
• Animal Waste
• Overclassified waste
• Out-dated Pharmaceutical Waste
• Document Destruction Waste

What types of facilities does MED-FLEX service?

What treatment technologies does MED-FLEX use to dispose of the waste?

MED-FLEX utilizes State approved incineration and autoclave treatment technologies for the disposal of all waste types.

What is medical waste?

Regulated medical waste is defined as any solid waste, generated in the diagnosis, treatment (e.g., provision of medical services), or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biologicals, but does not include any hazardous or radioactive waste.

What is chemotherapeutic waste?

Waste that is contaminated through contact with or has previously contained chemotherapeutic agents, including but not limited to: gloves, gowns, towels, syringes, intravenous solution bags and attached tubing, etc. In order to be considered “Trace” chemotherapeutic waste, item must be “RCRA empty”, containing less than 3% by weight of the original quantity of hazardous drugs. MED-FLEX does not handle “Bulk” chemotherapeutic waste.

What is pathological waste?

Human pathological wastes, including tissues, organs, and body parts and body fluids that are removed during surgery or autopsy, or other medical procedures, and specimens of body fluids and their containers.

What is overclassified waste?

Waste that is not managed or defined as regulated medical waste, chemotherapeutic or pathological waste may be grouped under overclassified material. This waste includes out-dated pharmaceuticals, document destruction, or other types of waste that are not regulated but warrant being disposed of in a secure and documented manner.

What is pharmaceutical waste?

Any chemical product, vaccine or allergenic, not containing a radioactive component, that is intended for the use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or injury in humans or animals. Pharmaceutical waste assigned a P or U waste code or exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics: Corrosivity, Ignitability, Reactivity or Toxicity are considered hazardous waste and can not be picked up by MED-FLEX.

Do the different types of waste have to be segregated?

Yes, different types of waste (i.e. regulated medical waste, chemotherapeutic, pathological and overclassified waste) must each be placed in separate containers in order to accurately and properly manage and dispose of each type of waste correctly.

How often do I have to have my medical waste picked up?

This varies from State to State. In New Jersey, medical waste must be picked up a minimum of once a year or sooner if the waste becomes putrescent. In Pennsylvania, infectious waste must be picked up a minimum of every 30 days.

What pick up frequencies does MED-FLEX offer?

What can I put in the medical waste box / hamper?

• Closed and tied red bag waste
• Closed and locked shut disposable sharps containers
• Leak proof containers of liquid
• Soft red bag waste, including but not limited to: gauze, table paper, blood soaked items, intravenous bags, soft plastic items, gloves, gowns, bandages, etc.
• Chemotherapeutic and Pathological waste may be placed in separate cardboard medical waste boxes / hamper, and must adhere to the above guidelines.

What can’t I put into the medical waste box / hamper?

• No hazardous or radioactive waste
• No loose liquid in excess of 20cc
• No loose syringes or needles
• No loose hard plastic items, such as pipettes or culture dishes
• No glass items.
  Rule of thumb: If it can puncture the red bag, it needs to be placed in a sharps container.

What goes into the sharp containers?

• All needles and syringes
• Hard plastic pipettes and tips
• Glassware items including but not limited to: test tubes, vials, bottles, slides, vacutainers, etc.
• Items made of metal, razor blades, scaples, knives, tweezers, scissors, etc.

How full should I fill the sharps container before replacing them?

Sharps containers should never be filled more than the manufacturer's recommended fill level. If the manufacturer has not specified a fill level, then ¾ full is the recommend level to fill the sharps container to before replacing.

What is considered an acceptable sharps container?

All disposable or reusable sharp containers supplied by MED-FLEX meet or exceed OSHA, NIOSH, CDC and JCAHO requirements. If you purchase your sharps containers from a vendor other than MED-FLEX, you will have to check with them to see if they can verify that they meet the Federal and State requirements. The Federal Government has announced that the following containers can no longer be used as sharp containers: coffee cans, milk jugs or cartons, 2 liter soda bottles and thin walled plastic containers. Any needles, syringes or sharps placed in these containers will not be picked up by the MED-FLEX driver.

Does MED-FLEX pick up hazardous waste?

No, MED-FLEX does not handle or pick up any hazardous or radioactive waste.

Where should we keep our medical waste?

Medical waste must be stored in a manner and location that is accessible only to authorized employees and that maintains the integrity of the packaging and provides protection from the elements and wildlife. It also must be easily accessible to the MED-FLEX driver in order to do the pickup.

When will I get my white copy of the manifest back?

The typical turn around time for the white copy of the manifest to be returned to you is approximately 10 – 14 days after your pickup is done. Normally, we send the white copy of the manifest along with your invoice to your billing address, unless other arrangements have been made.

Do I have to put a label with our company information on the full sharps container?

If you are located in New Jersey, all full sharps containers are required by law to be labeled with the following information prior to being picked up or being placed in any medical waste container for pickup:
(This is the responsibility of the Generator, not the Transporter)

• Generator’s name and address
• Telephone number
• Generator / state identification number

Will the MED-FLEX driver seal and tape the box and weigh it for me when they arrive to do my pickup?

Yes, the driver will be more than happy to take care of that for you. We understand time is a precious commodity. The driver will also weigh the medical waste container either in your office or in their truck (every truck has a digital scale that is calibrated yearly), in order to give you an accurate accounting of the weight of your waste.

Will the MED-FLEX driver go room to room and collect the red bags and full sharps containers?

Unfortunately, we are unable to do this because of the time constraint of the route. When the driver arrives at your site, they can wait for a few minutes while you gather up the waste. If the wait becomes excessive, the driver will have to leave, and you will have to call the office to reschedule your pickup. We suggest that you have a central collect point where you put all the waste prior to us arriving at your site so that there is as little inconvenience to your staff as possible.

How will I know when MED-FLEX is coming out to pick me up?

Every year, during the first week of December, MED-FLEX mails out “Season’s Greeting” cards to every customer with their next year’s pickup schedule inside of them. New customers are faxed a pickup schedule as soon as they sign and return their contract to MED-FLEX. If you lose your pickup calendar, call the office and they will fax you a new calendar.

If I don’t need a pick up on my scheduled day, what should I do?

If you do not need a pickup on your scheduled day, call the office 24 hours prior to your pickup and let them know you need to cancel your pickup. As long as you call 24 hours ahead, you will not be charged a non-notification fee. If we arrive at your site, and you tell the driver you have no waste to be picked up, a non-notification fee will be charged to your account.

Can I get an emergency or off schedule pick-up?

Yes, we can schedule an emergency or off schedule pickup. If you can wait until the next time we are in your area, you will only be billed your contract price for the pickup. If we have to send a driver out to do the pickup off route, an additional transportation fee along with your contract pricing will be billed to your account.

Does MED-FLEX offer OSHA or compliance training?

Currently, MED-FLEX does not offer its own OSHA and compliance training. In order to stay current with the most recent regulation changes, MED-FLEX has partnered with several companies that offer a wide selection of programs and services for OSHA and compliance training. Please click on the OSHA Compliance tab on our website to get additional information for these companies.

How do I get a generator identification number for New Jersey?

Go to the MED-FLEX website and click on the Resources tab. Click the icon for “NJ DEP Generator Identification # Registration Form”. This will open up the generator identification registration form. Print this form out and answer all of the questions. If you need help completing this form, feel free to give us a call. Mail the completed form and your registration fee to the address listed on the last page of the instructions. This fee gets mailed to NJDEP, not MED-FLEX. We have nothing to do with the registration or fee. Once your application has been received and processed, the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection will mail you an official letter listing your generator identification number.

Do I have to renew this number every year? And is there a fee?

Yes, you need to renew your generator identification number every year. The NJ DEP will mail you a report to fill out along with a registration renewal form. The registration renewal fee varies as to the amount of medical waste you generated and listed in your yearly report.