Clinical Waste Removal Across the UK

Clinical waste is waste from healthcare or similar activities that may cause infection, or that contains medicines, chemicals or sharps. It includes used needles and syringes, dressings and swabs contaminated with body fluids, out-of-date medicines and anatomical waste. Waste such as gloves and incontinence pads with no known infection risk is usually classed as offensive waste instead, which is non-hazardous but still needs to be kept separate from general waste.

Under HTM 07-01 guidance, orange is infectious waste suitable for alternative treatment, yellow is infectious or medicinally contaminated waste that must be incinerated, yellow-and-black tiger stripes are offensive waste, purple is cytotoxic and cytostatic waste, blue is non-cytotoxic medicines, red is anatomical waste and white is dental amalgam. Sharps containers follow the same idea, with orange, yellow and purple lids for the different contents.

Most clinical waste is hazardous, so in England and Wales each collection needs a hazardous waste consignment note, which you must keep for at least three years. Non-hazardous offensive waste needs a waste transfer note, kept for at least two years, and this can be an annual note for regular collections. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own equivalent rules for special and hazardous waste.

Yes. Tattoo studios, piercers, aesthetics clinics, beauty salons offering injectables, physiotherapists and podiatrists all produce sharps or clinical waste and are legally responsible for disposing of it properly. Small producers usually need a sharps container service every one to three months, which is one of the lowest-cost options.

No. Clinical and infectious waste must be kept separate and collected by a carrier registered to handle it, then treated at a permitted facility. Putting it in a general waste bin is a breach of your Duty of Care and can lead to enforcement action and fines, as well as putting waste workers at risk of needlestick injuries.

It depends on your volumes and the type of waste. Busy GP surgeries and care homes may need weekly collections, while small clinics and studios may only need sharps collected every one to three months. Waste should be stored in a secure, lockable area and not left for longer than is safe and practical.

Assemble the container correctly, keep it at a safe height, never overfill it beyond the fill line, and never try to retrieve anything from it. When it reaches the line, lock the temporary closure into the final closure, label it with your details and the date, and store it securely for collection.

Orange bag waste is infectious waste that can be made safe by alternative treatment, such as heat treatment, before final disposal. Yellow bag waste must be incinerated, usually because it is contaminated with medicines or chemicals, or because it is a type of waste that is not suitable for alternative treatment. Putting orange-stream waste in yellow bags costs more than it needs to.