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Compliant and legal offensive waste management
phs delivers a fully compliant offensive waste management solution designed around your organisation’s needs. Whether you’re a facilities manager looking for a waste management partner, or your responsible for finding a commercial or healthcare waste solution. We make it simple to stay compliant with HTM 07‑01 guidance while keeping you and your staff focused on other day to day tasks.
As a trusted NHS supplier and with thousands of commercial and healthcare clients across the UK, phs provide you with everything you need for safe and compliant disposal, including HTM 07‑01 approved tiger bags. Our trained technicians manage scheduled collections and ensure all waste is transported and processed through appropriate, legally compliant disposal routes.
With expert support from our compliance specialists, we help you stay on top of legislation, CQC expectations, duty of care requirements and pre‑acceptance audits.
With phs, you get a complete, worry‑free service that protects your staff, your patients and your compliance.
What is offensive waste?
Offensive waste is non-hazardous waste that isn't safe to put in a standard bin.
It doesn't contain clinical or chemical substances, but it does pose a hygiene risk. Examples include sanitary products, nappies, tampons, incontinence pads, and used personal protective equipment. Anything that's unpleasant to handle and could cause offence or spread infection if it's not managed correctly.
It's most commonly produced in washrooms, care settings, schools, and any public-facing premises where personal hygiene products are used.
Offensive waste sits between general waste and clinical waste in the UK's waste classification system. It's not hazardous, so it doesn't need to be incinerated. But it does need to be segregated, stored safely, and collected by a licensed waste carrier.
How our offensive waste management service works
Our service manages everything for you providing you with all the paperwork and digital records needed on each collection for your records and audits.
We can advise you on the right waste solution using the information you provide and, where required, complete a site survey before agreeing a collection schedule that works for your organisation.
Here’s what's included:
Quote and site survey if required
Free and regular deliveries of tiger bags
Efficient collection and management
Copies of all paperwork all uploaded to Myphs portal for easy access
Fully guaranteed products for the duration of the contract
Simple payment plan for flexibility
Fully licenced and regulated service
Diverting your waste away from the landfill
phs offer sustainable waste disposal through the phs Lifecycle Strategy. The offensive waste we collect from our customers is redirected to state-of-the-art energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities across the country, to generate energy to power schools, homes, and industries via the National Grid.
Our sustainable practices can make a real difference to your ESG goals and corporate responsibility.
We hold the bronze EcoVadis award, meaning we're in the top 35% of companies globally for sustainable waste disposal and overall eco-friendly business practices. 
Why choose phs?
Sustainable service
phs holds the bronze EcoVadis award for sustainability, meaning we’re in the top 35% of companies globally for sustainable business practices. Our services cut our carbon footprint and support your ESG objectives.
Paperless account management
The Myphs online portal offers an easy way to access key documents, raise queries, track visits, and pay invoices. This saves paper and keeps you organised with everything you need in one place.
Fully managed licenced service
We provide you with all the paperwork you need, can advise you on best practice. We then take care of the disposal with our licenced service saving you resources and admin.
Trusted by thousands
With over 6,000 reviews and an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot rating, and over 120,000 customers including hundreds of NHS trusts and businesses, phs is a trusted partner in offensive waste.
Over 60 years’ experience
As market leaders in healthcare and hygiene waste, you can trust us as your offensive waste disposal partner, keeping you legal and compliant.
Flexible products and service
Get the products you need and chose a collection schedule to suit you. Our offensive waste disposal service can suit any type of sector or business.
The rules around offensive waste
Offensive waste isn't something you can manage informally. UK law sets out clear responsibilities for any business that produces it.
Places a duty of care on your business from the moment offensive waste is created. You're legally responsible for how it's stored, handled, and disposed of, right through to its final destination.
Classify offensive waste as a distinct waste stream. That means it must be kept separate from your general rubbish and collected as its own category.
Sets the standard in healthcare and care settings. This Health Technical Memorandum defines offensive waste clearly and sets out how it must be segregated, stored, and collected. If you're operating in healthcare, social care, or education, this guidance applies to you.
Requires offensive waste to be bagged in yellow bags with a black stripe. Using the wrong bag, or mixing streams, puts you in breach of your duty of care.
You'll also need a waste transfer note for every collection. This is your proof that the waste was handled correctly and disposed of legally. Keep these on file. They're what you'll need if your practices are ever questioned.
Offensive waste collection and disposal for a range of sectors
We work with a range of different businesses and sectors including:
Hospitals, dentists, GP surgeries and vestiary practices.
Nurseries, schools colleges and universities.
Offices, hotels, leisure centres and gyms.
How to Implement a Healthcare Waste Management System
Yes we have depots across every region of the UK, meaning we can provide you with a full management and collection service wherever you are in the UK.
It fully depends on o the type of business or operation you’re running. There’s no legal time frame for collection, but you have a duty of care to make sure it doesn’t become a hygiene risk or hazard. Quieter settings might find fortnightly or monthly will work fine. Higher-footfall settings, such as care homes or schools, may need more frequent visits.
We can work with you to advise and agreed on a schedule that works for you.
Yes. A waste transfer note must be completed for every collection and kept on file for a minimum of two years. If your premises generates the same type of waste on a regular basis, you can use a season ticket arrangement, a single note covering multiple collections over a 12-month period. This reduces admin without compromising your compliance record.
We can take care of this for you and ensure you have the notes on each collection.
Clinical waste poses a risk of infection or injury, such as sharps, contaminated dressings, or infectious materials, often containing blood, body fluids, or pharmaceutical residues. They require strict handling, normally sharps bins or orange bags for storage and disposal and specialist treatment, usually high‑temperature incineration.
Offensive waste is non‑infectious and non‑hazardous and can be disposed of under less stringent controls, typically via energy‑from‑waste or licensed landfill, making it cheaper and simpler to manage.
No. Sanitary bins are specifically for sanitary waste and are collected as a separate waste stream.
Each stream needs its own correctly designated container. Mixing them creates a compliance issue and could result in your collection being rejected.
