(a) By incineration in a regulated medical waste incineration facility approved and under permit pursuant to article nineteen of the environmental conservation law, which provides complete combustion of the waste to carbonized or mineralized ash. Regulated medical waste so combusted shall be disposable as nonhazardous waste provided it is not an otherwise hazardous waste as defined in the regulations promulgated under section 27-0903 of the environmental conservation law.

(b) By discharge to sewerage system if the waste is liquid or semiliquid, except as specifically prohibited by the commissioner of health.

(c) By decontamination by autoclaving, or by other technique approved by the department, so as to render the waste noninfectious. Regulated medical waste so treated shall be disposed of as solid waste provided it does not otherwise meet the definition of hazardous waste as defined in the regulations promulgated under section 27-0903 of the environmental conservation law or the regulations promulgated thereunder, and is accompanied by a certificate, in a form prescribed by the commissioner, which evidences such treatment.

(d) By other method approved by the commissioner. 2. Regulated medical waste shall not be disposed of by burial at a landfill disposal facility, unless treated in accordance with subdivision one of this section. All sharps must be rendered unrecognizable prior to disposal. 3. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of environmental conservation, shall develop a limited number of cooperative pilot projects to promote the safe handling, treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste generated in private residences, including the establishment of guidelines for safe transport and handling of such waste prior to disposal. Such pilot projects shall be limited to a maximum of four municipalities throughout the state, and may vary in scope from single-facility to multi-facility projects. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as imposing any new requirements on generators of regulated medical waste. The commissioner shall give due consideration to the experience of the pilot projects in developing rules and regulations authorized in subdivision four of this section. Any moneys allocated by any government or organization to the department of health or the department of environmental conservation for purposes of establishing such pilot projects are hereby authorized for appropriation pursuant to this subdivision. 4. Sharps, including needles, syringes and lancets, originating from a private residence, may be delivered for disposal to a general hospital, as defined in subdivision ten of section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter, or a residential health care facility, as defined in subdivision three of section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter. Sharps, including needles, syringes and lancets returned pursuant to this section must be accepted by the hospital or residential health care facility on the condition that the needles, syringes and lancets have been deposited in an approved puncture proof container by the generator. The hospital or residential health care facility receiving such contained sharps must dispose of sharps in accordance with this section. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations establishing guidelines for safe transport and handling of such sharps, including the approval of puncture proof containers for sharps.