{"id":340380,"date":"2026-07-15T01:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T01:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340380\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T01:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T01:25:12","slug":"pharmaceutical-waste-outreach-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340380\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmaceutical Waste Outreach Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t14 July, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMedia Contact: <br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nDenise.Cochran@ocfl.net<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nPIO@OCFL.net<br \/>&#13;\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-23597\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/26.01_OC-Logo-V-Color.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"197\"  \/>Orange County, FL \u2013 Orange County Government\u2019s Environmental Protection Division has received the 2026 Best Outreach Program Award from the <a href=\"https:\/\/nahmma.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">North American Hazardous Materials Management Association<\/a> for an innovative outreach program designed to help small healthcare facilities properly manage hazardous pharmaceutical waste.<\/p>\n<p>The national award recognizes the Division for developing a user-friendly digital questionnaire that made compliance outreach more efficient, accessible and effective. The program focused on keeping hazardous pharmaceutical waste out of the environment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen pharmaceutical waste is not managed properly, it can contribute to toxic pollution in our lakes, rivers and groundwater,\u201d said Aim\u00e9e Krivan, Senior Environmental Specialist with Orange County\u2019s Pollution Prevention program. \u201cHelping facilities understand their responsibilities is one way we can reduce that risk before it reaches the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, healthcare workers at small healthcare facilities are often unfamiliar with hazardous waste management requirements. Following the initial questionnaire, Orange County staff continued engaging facilities through calls, emails and in-person assistance.<\/p>\n<p>Orange County earned NAHMMA\u2019s 2026 Best Outreach Program Award for an innovative education campaign that helps small healthcare providers safely manage hazardous pharmaceutical waste. The program combines practical compliance tools with direct outreach to improve environmental protection, reduce pollution risks, and support regulatory compliance.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about Orange County\u2019s Environmental Protection Division, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/orangecountyfl.net\/Environment.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">OCFL.net\/Environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>About Orange County Government:\u00a0Orange County Government strives to serve its residents and guests with integrity, honesty, fairness and professionalism. Located in Central Florida, Orange County includes 13 municipalities and is home to world-famous theme parks, one of the nation\u2019s largest convention centers and a thriving life science research park. Seven elected members make up the Board of County Commissioners, including the Mayor, who is elected countywide. For more information, please visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.OCFL.net<\/a>\u00a0or go to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocfl.net\/Home\/SocialMedia.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Orange County Government\u2019s social media channels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/media-advisories\/press-releases\/2026\/07\/media-preview-orange-county-board-of-county-commissioners-meeting-july-14\/\" rel=\"prev nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Previous Release<\/a>\t\t\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ocfl.net\/media-advisories\/press-releases\/2026\/07\/orange-county-holds-budget-work-session-for-fiscal-year-2026-27\/\" rel=\"next nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Next Release<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"#header\" class=\"back-to-top-link\">Back To Top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"14 July, 2026 Media Contact: &#13; Denise.Cochran@ocfl.net&#13; PIO@OCFL.net&#13; Orange County, FL \u2013 Orange County Government\u2019s Environmental Protection Division&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-340380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}