Medical waste rules in Indiana
Indiana regulates infectious waste at the generator through the Indiana Department of Health under 410 IAC 1-3 and Indiana Code 16-41-16, which apply to every health care provider, laboratory, veterinarian and mortuary without regard to quantity. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) permits treatment facilities under 329 IAC 11 and requires treatment before landfill disposal. There is no state generator registration, no transporter license and no fixed storage day limit.
- What counts (410 IAC 1-3-10): contaminated sharps and objects that could become contaminated sharps, infectious cultures, biologicals and agent stocks, pathological waste, blood and blood products in liquid or semi-liquid form, contaminated laboratory animal waste, and other waste intermingled with any of these. For home health and hospice care only contaminated sharps are covered.
- Shared responsibility (410 IAC 1-3-22): the generator is responsible for containment, labeling, effective treatment, transport and disposal, and a service provider that takes on any of those steps is responsible alongside it. The rule is a minimum; a facility may adopt stricter standards (410 IAC 1-3-21).
- Written policy and training (410 IAC 1-3-23): a written policy and procedures covering the rule's requirements and the sanctions for ignoring them, instruction and protective garments before anyone is assigned to work with infectious waste, and attendance records available to the Department.
- Containment (410 IAC 1-3-24): sharps, cultures and agent stocks in leak-proof, rigid, puncture-resistant containers, tightly sealed and labeled with the biohazard symbol; pathological waste, liquid blood and blood products and visibly bloody body fluids in moisture-impervious containers strong enough not to burst, secured against leakage and labeled with the biohazard symbol.
- Storage (410 IAC 1-3-25): a locked or otherwise secured area closed to the public, protected from the weather and vermin, marked with the biohazard symbol, where waste is kept in a way that preserves the container and is not conducive to rapid microbial growth and putrefaction. Reusable containers are disinfected each time they are emptied unless a disposable liner protected them.
- Treatment and transport (410 IAC 1-3-26 to 1-3-28): effective treatment means incineration, steam sterilisation, chemical disinfection, thermal inactivation, irradiation or, for liquids, discharge to a sanitary sewer; nothing is compacted before treatment. Any container leaving the site is labeled with the name, address and telephone number of the generating facility (and treatment facility, if applicable), the outer packaging carries the biohazard symbol, and a signed form describes the waste and the treatment method.
Source: Indiana Department of Health, 410 IAC 1-3, Infectious Waste.
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