In this session we focused on the issues of policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for waste management, using an example from South Africa. This session underscored the fact one of the common noted challenges in many settings was that there were and still are limited or no existing national policies or guidelines on dealing with hazardous waste (e.g., expired drugs, medical equipment and laboratory waste like that from VL & EID testing). The content discussed in this session covered critical issues of waste management and are relevant to laboratorians, laboratory safety managers, biosafety officers, waste management and environmental protection personnel, quality assurance personnel, and healthcare workers.