AASTMT Medical and Biohazardous Waste Disposal Program

1. AASTMT has implemented a strategy in all laboratories and clinics to segregate hazardous waste, categorizing it as chemical, biological, and medical waste to ensure safe handling and disposal.
2. All hazardous waste generated, from biochemistry and microbiology labs, is initially stored in designated containers for each type. Biological waste is sterilized through autoclaving prior to disposal.
3. AASTMT strictly adheres to safety protocols for chemical waste management, including storing chemicals in fume hoods to minimize toxic vapors, protecting both students and staff members during laboratory activities.
4. AASTMT collaborates with Nahdet Misr, an accredited waste disposal national company, for the collection and safe disposal of hazardous materials, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations.
5. Hazardous waste handover to Nahdet Misr is supervised by AASTMT staff members to verify safe containment and proper documentation, guaranteeing secure transport and disposal.
6. AASTMT promotes awareness about hazardous waste management among students and staff through training sessions and workshops, reinforcing a culture of safety and environmental responsibility.
7. The university supports sustainable practices by monitoring waste disposal activities and assessing the environmental impact to align with Egypt’s environmental goals and AASTMT’s commitment to a safe campus.

This comprehensive approach allows AASTMT to responsibly manage hazardous waste, preventing environmental contamination and promoting a safe campus environment. Through partnerships, education, and strict adherence to safety protocols, AASTMT is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and upholding public health standards.

Safe Disposal and Fume Hood Practices in Chemistry Labs at AASTMT College of Pharmacy

In the AASTMT College of Pharmacy, proper disposal of waste generated during practical work in organic chemistry labs is essential to protect both students and the environment. All chemical waste, particularly from organic solvents, acids, and bases, should be carefully disposed of in designated waste containers labeled for hazardous materials. These containers are regularly collected and managed by certified disposal partners to ensure safe and compliant processing. To minimize exposure to toxic vapors, students are instructed to perform all reactions that emit fumes, including volatile or hazardous compounds, within a fume hood.

This practice not only enhances safety by effectively venting harmful vapors but also reinforces environmentally responsible lab practices. Regular training on the use of fume hoods and hazardous waste disposal further supports AASTMT’s commitment to a safe and sustainable educational environment in the College of Pharmacy and all practical colleges in all campus branches.

Safe Disposal of Biological Hazardous Materials at AASTMT Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratories

In AASTMT's biochemistry and microbiology laboratories College of pharmacy, all biological hazardous materials, including cultures, specimens, and materials contaminated with microorganisms, are handled with stringent safety protocols to protect students, staff, and the environment. Before disposal, all biohazardous waste is sterilized using autoclaves, which effectively neutralize pathogens and reduce contamination risks. Once autoclaved, the waste is securely contained and transferred to Nahdet Misr, AASTMT’s certified waste management partner, for safe, compliant disposal.Similarly, clinical labs on the AASTMT campus follow strict procedures for hazardous biological waste, including medical waste like used syringes, swabs, and other contaminated materials. This waste is initially sterilized as needed, then stored in biohazard-safe containers and managed through Nahdet Misr’s disposal services. These procedures ensure all biological hazards are carefully contained, sterilized, and responsibly disposed of in accordance with health and environmental regulations.

Safe Handover of Hazardous Waste from AASTMT Labs of college of pharmacy and AASTMT clinics to Nahdet Misr

At AASTMT, the safe management and disposal of hazardous waste from labs and clinics are critical components of campus health and environmental safety. All hazardous waste, including chemical, biological, and medical materials generated in laboratories and clinics, is first securely stored in labeled, dedicated containers. After proper containment and any necessary sterilization such as autoclaving biological waste these materials are prepared for transfer. The waste is then handed over to Nahdet Misr, AASTMT’s certified waste management partner, who specializes in the safe transport, treatment, and disposal of hazardous materials. This collaboration ensures that all waste is managed responsibly, adhering to regulatory standards and minimizing any environmental impact.

The AASTMT waste management process is designed to ensure the safe and environmentally responsible handling of hazardous waste from its point of generation in labs and clinics to its final disposal. Beginning with careful waste segregation, each type of hazardous material—whether chemical, biological, or medical—is collected in specially labeled containers to prevent cross-contamination and facilitate correct disposal procedures. For biological waste, an initial sterilization step via autoclaving neutralizes pathogens, reducing any health risks. The waste is then securely stored and periodically handed over to Nahdet Misr under the supervision of trained staff members to verify compliance with safety protocols. This carefully monitored end-to-end process, not only protects AASTMT’s campus community but also aligns with best practices in environmental stewardship by ensuring hazardous waste is handled, transported, and disposed of in a sustainable and regulated manner.

Prof. Dr. Yasser Gaber Eldesouky
Dean of Scientific Research and Innovation Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (AASTMT)

​​​​​​​Sustainable AASTMT-Alexandria | AASTMT​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

AASTMT’s Recycling and consumption Policy

AASTMT is endeavoring to properly dispose of hazard waste. All hazardous materials must be stored in suitable cabinets, such as flammable material storage cabinets, both before and after use for protection.​​​​​​​

The huge pressure on environmental resources, increasing greenhouse gases, unprecedented rates of CO2 emissions, rising sea levels, pollution, overpopulation, resource waste, and land degradation affect the current and future generations. They face surmountable challenges due to climate change, resource scarcity, waste management, and insufficient recycling practices. Recycling is a cornerstone of addressing these issues, as it reduces resource waste, alleviates pollution, and contributes to managing land degradation. AASTMT has established policies to achieve sustainable development goals, help uphold the University's Environmental Change and Social Duty Policy and keep the surrounding society and the community in good health and safe.

The policy places strong emphasis on recycling to lessen negative natural effects emerging from our era of waste raising, looking to foresee, reuse, recycle, repurpose, and decrease waste from our activity. Recycling is further integrated into the Policy, which likewise plans to guarantee that AASTMT oversees waste and recycling issues as per the counteraction of contamination and consistent with natural enactment. Recycling serves as a key strategy in fulfilling these commitments and creating a sustainable environment for all.

1. Scope

It is the responsibility of all employees, students, and contractors working to handle, deal with, and store all kinds of waste, including hazardous materials and other types of waste, with a strong emphasis on recycling. Recycling should be a priority at every level of waste management, ensuring that materials are sorted, processed, and reused whenever possible. In addition, assign the person who is responsible for these materials to oversee their recycling and disposal in the most suitable and environmentally friendly way. Recycling hazardous materials and other types of waste not only minimizes environmental harm but also aligns with sustainable waste management practices. Recycling initiatives should be integrated into all handling and disposal processes to support the university’s environmental goals.

1. Aims of the Policy

The AASTMT policy considers end-of-life disposal costs and environmental impacts when making acquisition decisions involving the construction of new or renovated facilities.

AASTMT receives the 'waste order' of Prevention, reuse, reusing, and other recuperation and removal. AASTMT executes cycles, methods, and activities that guarantee consistency with ecological enactment and best practice, to lessen the general waste produced and forestall waste creation at every possible opportunity. Moreover, AASTMT is committed to measuring and weighing the amount of waste generated to track the waste and to find the best methods to reduce or recycle it.

1. Procedures

The Waste Treatment Progressive System and Stages Incorporates:

Prevention

• Utilizing less material in the plan; keeping items for more; utilizing less unsafe material.
• Reduce landfill waste and boost the usage of reusable, biodegradable, and recyclable materials.

RE-USE

• Getting ready for re-use; cleaning; fixing, restoring.
• Reduce the usage of single-use packaging. Reducing single-use packaging such as coffee cups and increasing the usage of reusable packaging

Recycle

• Transforming waste disposal into another substance or item, including fertilizing the soil.

• Anaerobic assimilation – transformation to biogas for power age; burning with energy recuperation.

Disposal

• Reduce the disposal of items and send them by specialized to landfill to bury the hazardous materials.
• Tracking the disposal items through a third party which evaluates the amount and the cost of the disposal items.

Ethical Sourcing of Food and Supplies

AASTMT is seeking to reduce food waste as much as we can through using food preservation methods and vermicomposting practices. The university is committed to delivering healthy food for all parties in the university including food on Campus, Residences, and employees whether vegetarian or others. AASTMT makes sure that the food is available at each level to guarantee healthy food for ASTMT’s stakeholders. However, food waste is still a problem for AASTMT. Therefore, AASTMT is applying the following procedures to use the waste of food in an appropriate way:

1. Develop a monitoring system for food donations by using food waste.
2. Most of the food waste produced is recorded and weighed to be sent to a device that produces bio-fertilizer for the green areas.
3. Some of the food waste is used to feed the animals like (dogs, and cats,)

• Policy Statement

The AASTMT seeks to implement ethical and sustainable practices on all of its campuses. Therefore, the AASTMT has taken crucial measures to implement these practices, such as ecological practices and corporate social responsibility. Through the exchange of information within the Academy's supply chain, these food ethics and practices enable AASTMT to ensure the transparency of information about all suppliers.

• Trusted suppliers

To accomplish supply chain transparency, one of the primary goals of AASTMT is to identify the most reliable and reputable partners who share the same ethical practices, objectives, and data. To accomplish ethical and sustainable practices, the first step is to identify the most suitable suppliers.

• Secure Relationships

The interaction with suppliers is the second step to keep secure relationships between partners and to reduce the risk. AASTMT is seeking to build a platform and application to increase communications and share important information. That would give the suppliers and partners access to the internal systems they need based on their roles within the ecosystem, sustainability practices, and the food ethics of AASTMT.

• Tracing the food supplies

Through utilizing new technologies such as block chain technology, AASTMT plays a crucial role in facilitating the monitoring and tracing of the origin of food. It allows the AASTMT to trace the origin of food and ensure its safe delivery to campuses.

• Evaluation of the process

AASTMT is monitoring the overall processes between its partners to guarantee healthy and sustainable food for students, staff, and Residents. Based on this monitoring, errors must be fixed, and corrective action must be taken.

AASTMT guarantees that we are conforming to guidelines, enactment, and best practices to limit the danger of prompt and future contamination or mischief to wellbeing when completing operational exercises.

1. Actions

• A proposition to build a Waste Management Centre throughout all AASTMT campuses to oversee every aspect of waste management within the Academy, and to recycle all type of materials generated.
• AASTMT is about to build a packaging lab, this lab is aiming to act as a hub providing packaging services consultancy for Egyptian and research on the field of packaging supply chain. The materials of this lab will be extracted from the cartoon and plastic wastes from the AASTMT campus to produce packaging prototype designs.
• AASTMT has halted the utilization of 'single use' plastics nearby utilizing a blend of elective materials and the suspension of deals of plastic filtered water nearby.
• AASTMT perceives the unfavourable effect of plastic waste, from creation through to removal. Plastic contamination can destructively affect the marine climate, and the College is looking to diminish plastic use and wastage nearby. The accompanying activities have been received to advance this point with staff and understudies:
• Single-use plastics in catering (food bundling, dispensable coffee cups, cutlery) have been supplanted with compostable catering supplies in all College food outlets, to lessen plastic waste nearby.
• AASTMT intends to keep on diminishing waste by investigating new items and administrations which will help with accomplishing decreased plastics utilization and waste.
• AASTMT will consider the hazardous materials that can be hurtful to the well-being or the climate. It incorporates irresistible organic/clinical waste, synthetics, solvents, pesticides, glaring light cylinders, refrigeration hardware containing ozone, non-eatable oils, batteries, asbestos, and paints. AASTMT will have an agreement with a third party to landfill these materials in a landfill area.
• The AASTMT will oversee, so far as is sensibly practicable, all dangerous waste exercises falling under its influence in a way, for example, to limit the mischief to human wellbeing or the climate.
• AASTMT will create and impart systems to empower workers to follow their “obligation of care” for the administration of risky wastes and screen these methods to guarantee consistency.

1. Objectives:

Waste ought to be forestalled or limited at every possible opportunity. AASTMT empowers staff, Students, and employers to limit plastic and cartoon waste, in addition to increasing the awareness about the method to minimize disposable items.

1. Review Program

AASTMT recycling and consumption policy AASTMT-webpage