Healthcare waste

Domestic clinical waste is produced by residents within their own homes. It can consist of:

• Human or animal tissue
• Blood or other bodily fluids
• Excretions
• Drugs or other pharmaceutical products
• Swabs or dressings
• Syringes, needles or other sharp instruments
• Any other healthcare related waste which may cause infection to a person coming into contact with it such as incontinence pads produced by someone suffering from an infectious disease.

The best way to dispose of unwanted medicines is by taking them to your local pharmacist.

Example: incontinence pads

Incontinence pads are classed as clinical waste if the resident producing it from his or her home is suffering from an infectious disease. Non-infectious incontinence pads are domestic offensive waste and should be wrapped thoroughly before being put in the dustbin.

Infectious incontinence pads, as they are clinical waste, must be stored and collected separately from other waste. If the waste was produced during the course of professional home treatment it is the responsibility of the service provider to make suitable arrangements for its collection and disposal, not the resident.

Collections

We collect clinical waste produced by residents within their own homes. To receive this service, first contact your healthcare provider (such as GP, nurse or health visitor). They will request that we start collecting and provide suitable waste containers.

Our contractor will then contact you to arrange collection times and days.  Any clinical waste collected by this service will be disposed of safely and all records are treated confidentially. Clinical waste must be collected separately and not mixed with other waste placed out for collection by the council or other contractors.

Recycling sacks - please note

We cannot collect clinical waste put out for collection in the recycling sacks used elsewhere due to the risk of these getting mixed up with the recycling sacks used in Wandsworth. Households receiving this service should be supplied with yellow clinical waste sacks with a black stripe ("tiger bags") to avoid this risk. Sharps boxes should be used for items such as syringes.