Medical waste rules in Alabama
Alabama rewrote its medical waste rules in 2025. The Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) now regulates the whole chain under Administrative Code Division 335-17 (effective February 14 and August 14, 2025): every generator registers, keeps a written plan and works to an accumulation clock that depends on whether it produces 220 pounds a month; transporters, storage facilities and treatment facilities all hold ADEM permits.
- Who is a generator (335-17-1-.02): any medical facility or person producing medical waste, expressly including dental offices, physician offices, clinics, dialysis clinics, surgical clinics, veterinary clinics, laboratories, home health agencies and funeral homes. Separate practices in one building are separate generators.
- Registration and plan (335-17-2-.01, 335-17-8-.01): a generator registers with ADEM within 30 days of starting operation (ADEM Form 410, submitted electronically) and keeps a written medical waste management plan naming the waste types, the collection, packaging and labeling procedures, any on-site treatment, the permitted transporter with its ADEM permit number, every off-site storage, treatment and disposal facility with its permit number, how often waste is removed, and the training given to staff who handle it.
- Accumulation (335-17-2-.01(4)): the clock starts when a shipping container is prepared for shipment. A generator producing 220 pounds or more a month holds waste no more than 30 calendar days from that date; one producing less than 220 pounds a month may accumulate for up to six months. Waste stays non-putrescent, the area is signed Medical Waste, Infectious Waste, Biohazardous or with the biohazard symbol, surfaces are smooth and impervious, and rodents and vectors are kept out. Amenable liquids may go to a sewer with secondary treatment.
- Packaging (335-17-3-.01): the outermost container is red, or red-lettered on a contrasting background, labeled Infectious, Medical Waste or Biohazardous and/or the biohazard symbol on two or more sides, impermeable to moisture and strong enough not to rip, tear or burst. Sharps go directly into leak-proof, spill-proof, rigid, puncture-resistant containers, sealed and labeled.
- Transport (335-17-5-.01): untreated medical waste moves only with a holder of an Alabama Medical Waste Transporter Permit, in an enclosed vehicle marked with the transporter's name, contact number, Medical Waste or the biohazard symbol and the ADEM permit number, carrying a spill kit, never compacting and never mixing with other solid waste. Transporters keep three years of records and report spills to ADEM immediately with a written report within seven days.
- Storage and treatment facilities (335-17-4-.01, 335-17-6, 335-17-8-.02): off-site storage needs an ADEM storage permit (30 days unrefrigerated, up to a year refrigerated below 45°F, with a management plan and three years of records); treatment facilities need a treatment permit and host-government approval. Accumulation areas that are part of the generator's own facility need no permit.
Source: ADEM, Administrative Code Division 335-17, Medical Waste Program (Land Division).
Reviewed September 2026.
This summary is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change; we confirm what applies to your facility during onboarding.Regulations by state