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Clinical & Healthcare Waste - A Brief Guide

It is imperative that your waste is categorised, segregated, contained, stored, transported and disposed of correctly; PHS All Clear have the knowledge and experience to assist your compliance with the stringent and governing legislation surrounding these issues.

The Department of Health released, 'The Safe Management of Healthcare Waste' in December 2006 which provides guidance to standardise waste practices across both the waste industry and the healthcare sector.

A brief overview of relevant parts of these guidelines follows. However, it is first important to appreciate the relationship between healthcare waste, clinical waste and hazardous waste as well as the definitions of these waste types.

Clinical Waste Definition

Clinical Waste is defined by the Controlled Waste Regulations (1992) as:

A) Any waste which consists of wholly or partly of human or animal tissue, blood or other bodily fluids, excretions, drugs or other pharmaceutical products, swabs and dressing or syringes, needles or other sharp instruments, being waste unless rendered safe may prove hazardous to any person coming into contact with it; and

B) Any other waste arising from medial, nursing, dental, pharmaceutical or similar practice, investigation, treatment, care, teaching or research, or the collection of blood for transfusion, being waste which may cause infection to any person coming into contact with it

Healthcare Waste Definition

Healthcare waste is classified under the European Waste Catalogue code, chapter 18 as wastes from natal care, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease in humans or animals. Healthcare Premises include hospitals, nursing homes, dental surgeries, GP surgeries and veterinary practices.

Examples of waste types include:

  • - Infectious waste
  • - Sharps waste
  • - Medicinal waste
  • - Laboratory cultures
  • - Offensive waste

Non-Healthcare Wastes

Premises such as schools, industrial and commercial premises, tattoo parlours, beauty treatment centres may produce similar waste similar to that produced by the healthcare industry. This clinical waste is still collected as a separated waste stream but is not subject to the same stringent guidelines as Healthcare waste.

Hazardous Waste Definition

Waste is deemed hazardous when it contains substance or has properties that might make it harmful to human health or the environment. The Hazardous Waste regulations 2005 identify 14 groups of hazardous waste types which have to be segregated, handled and disposed of in a safe manner to prevent harm to human life or the environment. Simply, the waste properties which render them hazardous are defined as 'substances containing viable micro-organisms or their known toxins are reliably believed to cause disease in man or living organisms' (Environment Agency Technical Guidance Document WM2)

Is My Waste Clinical, Healthcare or Hazardous?

As stated it is important to appreciate that waste previously defined as Group A (dressings), Group B (sharps) and C (laboratory waste) are now classified according to the infection risk and where the waste has been produced.

A) Healthcare waste can include non-hazardous waste, e.g. non-infectious hygiene waste. This waste is not classed as clinical waste and is classed as non-infectious offensive waste (EWC code 18 01 04).

B) Clinical waste can be produced from activities other than those included in chapter 18 of the EWC e.g. waste from tattoo parlours (EWC code 20 01 99) is not healthcare waste and non-hazardous but does require special collection and disposal to prevent infections.

C) Healthcare wastes that present a hazard are also clinical waste.

D) It should be noted that all healthcare waste and clinical waste unless proved to be non-infectious should be treated as Hazardous Waste.

Since the implementation of the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005, clinical waste is now defined using hazardous (or non-hazardous) properties and the appropriate EWC code. This has superseded the clinical waste groups A to E which are no longer applicable.

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