Clinical Waste Regulations in the UK
Clinical waste disposal is very strict in the UK. Here are links to various official resources to help you be more aware of your obligations for the disposal of clinical waste.
Waste storage, segregation and handling appropriate measures
These are the appropriate measures for waste storage, segregation and handling at regulated facilities with an environmental permit for treating or transferring healthcare waste. Read in full at gov.uk here
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
The law requires you to adequately control exposure to materials in the workplace that cause ill health. This is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). Read in full at hse.gov.uk here
Healthcare and related waste codes
Offensive waste
‘Offensive waste’ is non-clinical waste that’s non-infectious and does not contain pharmaceutical or chemical substances, but may be unpleasant to anyone who comes into contact with it.
You must segregate healthcare offensive waste from both clinical and mixed municipal wastes.
If you’ve produced more than 7kg of municipal offensive waste, or have more than one bag in a collection period, you must segregate it from any mixed municipal waste.
If you’ve produced less, you can dispose of your municipal offensive waste in your mixed municipal waste (‘black bag’). Use classification code 20-03-01.
Plaster and similar wastes
Most plaster waste is non-infectious.
It should be kept separately from any plaster waste that’s infectious, which must be placed in the bagged infectious clinical waste stream.
Waste medicines
A medicine is considered to be cytotoxic or cytostatic for waste classification purposes if it’s any of the following:
- acutely toxic
- carcinogenic
- mutagenic
- toxic for reproduction
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Household medicines returned to a community pharmacy should be coded as follows:
- cytotoxic and cytostatic medicines: 20-01-31*
- other medicines: 20-01-32
Sharps and related waste
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Anatomical waste
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Bagged clinical waste
You must only put waste items that are both infectious and chemically contaminated (for example some samples and diagnostic kits) in the yellow bag waste stream. (*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
