Pharmaceutical effluents are waste generated by pharmaceutical industry during the process of drugs manufacturing so that all effluent should be disposed of in a safe manner, and the means of disposal should be documented. Moreover, the pharmaceutical effluent contain high amount of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and nitrate which pose a great hazard to both human and aquatic environment when released untreated in to the environment. In accordance with cGMP & WHO guidelines, Pharmasia has set the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the Effluent Treatment Process (ETP) in such a manner as not to present a risk of contamination to the product, personnel or to the environment.
Liquid Waste Management
Liquid used in the production area often requires both wastage and secondary steps for water treatment. This may include rinsing of chemicals, surfactants, acids, and bases using clean-in-place (CIP) systems, rinsing operation streams for microbial destruction, or autoclaving detritus material from biological material harvesting.The liquid waste and disposable substances produced during operations are collected in collection pits and then passed to ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) to make inactive before discharge. The treated inactive substances are passed through adjacent channel. One ETP is for general products (capacity 36,000L/day i.e. 1.5 m3/hour) and another ETP is for cephalosporin products (capacity 12,000L/day i.e. 0.5 m3/hour) . The total capacity of ETP of Pharmasia is more than two cubic meter per hour.
Solid Waste Management
Treatment of solid wastes depends upon the nature and composition of the pharmaceutical waste. The present disposal practice mainly consists of hauling solid wastes to off-premises land disposal. A well-defined policy exists at Pharmasia inclusive of waste management through segregation and also with the provisions for using incinerator (contract with ICDDRB) to protect the environment. An attempt has been made to salvage solid wastes for reuse or making by-products. Toxic solid wastes from processes are to be incinerated inside factory premises. Solid wastes such as card-board boxes, packaging materials, glass and metal containers from damaged or defective batches warrants investigation for salvaging with necessary precautions.