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Biohazardous Waste Disposal Best Practices
If you work in a healthcare or laboratory setting, you will very likely come into contact with biohazardous waste multiple times a day, possibly without even realising.
With this in mind, it’s essential to manage and dispose of this type of waste carefully and safely to reduce the risk of spreading infections and diseases to staff, patients, visitors, and the wider environment.
To ensure you stay compliant with UK regulations regarding biohazardous waste disposal, here is a simple guide of best practices for you and your team to follow.
What counts as biohazardous waste?
The first step in disposing of biohazardous waste effectively is understanding what it is.
Any material contaminated with potentially infectious substances can be classified as biohazardous waste. This includes:
- Human and animal waste: Body parts, organs, tissues, blood, and even bedding materials from infected animals.
- Contaminated materials: Soiled dressings, bandages, swabs, wipes, and PPE contaminated during medical or laboratory use.
- Laboratory waste: Discarded samples containing microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, parasites, and other cultures.
- Sharps waste: Needles, syringes, scalpels, and other sharp medical instruments.
Train staff on biohazardous waste disposal regulations in the UK
In the UK, all biohazardous waste must be managed in line with strict regulatory frameworks. Training can help reduce the risk of mishaps and help all staff stay confident and compliant in their biohazardous waste disposal practices.
Failure to comply with the following regulations can result in fines, prosecution, and pose serious health risks to staff and visitors:
- The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005: A framework for identifying, classifying, and separating hazardous waste into colour-coded waste streams.
- Environmental Protection Act 1990: Requires all organisations to manage waste responsibly.
- Controlled Waste Regulations 2012: Provides definitions of what types of healthcare waste can fall into hazardous categories.
- Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: A guidance document laying out the UK’s colour-coded waste segregation system:
- Yellow and red: Highly infectious waste, such as human and animal waste.
- Orange: Infectious waste that can be sterilised before disposal, such as dressings, swabs, and PPE.
- Purple: Waste contaminated by cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines.
- Blue: Non-hazardous medicines that are out of date or will not be used.
- Yellow/black striped: Offensive but non-infectious waste, such as nappies, sanitary products, and non-contaminated PPE.
- Black: Standard domestic waste, such as packaging.
- Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2009: States the requirements for correct packaging, labelling, and containment of hazardous healthcare waste
Dispose of your waste using the correct method
Different types of biohazard waste require different disposal solutions to maintain public safety, good hygiene, and compliance with regulations.
There are many different types of disposal solutions available, depending on the type of biohazardous waste you are handling.
Biohazard bags
Biohazard bags are colour-coded for easy waste management and identification, and are designed to hold soft, infectious waste that needs to be incinerated.
Biohazard containers
Biohazard containers are also colour-coded and can be used for non-sharp clinical waste, laboratory waste, and contaminated materials.
Our Clinisafe ECO LOC hazardous waste containers are available in four colours and come with carry handles, self-adhesive labels, and an option of a porthole lid or a flat lid.
Sharps bins
Sharps bins are made from rigid, puncture-resistant materials to contain contaminated needles, syringes, scalpels, and other sharp medical objects.
We offer a variety of fully serviced sharps disposal containers, including:
Highly Infectious Waste Sharps Containers
Cytotoxic and Cytostatic Waste Sharps Containers
Highly Infectious Clinical Waste Containers
Pharmaceutical bins
Pharmaceutical bins are lockable, tamper-proof containers designed to hold expired or unused medicines.
At phs, you’ll find a range of fully compliant pharmaceutical bins made from 100% recycled material to support sustainable waste management. They are available in 7-litre, 13-litre, and 50-litre sizes, and it’s important to make sure you get the right size for the volume of waste, as overflowing biohazardous waste can be very dangerous.
Controlled drug kits
Controlled drug kits are the safest way to denature drugs, ensuring they cannot be recovered, retrieved, or reused in the future.
Our controlled drugs destruction kits are fully compliant with controlled drug waste regulations, and are available in four sizes ranging from 250ml to 20 litres.
Partner with a trusted biohazardous waste disposal company
At phs, our technicians are available to provide end-to-end waste management support for your facility, ensuring peace of mind and full compliance at all times. If you need help with legislation, duty of care and CQC obligations, and pre-acceptance audits, we can also offer expert support and guidance.
With our team by your side, you can rest assured that your biohazardous waste will be handled legally, safely, and without fuss.
Please contact us to order essential biohazardous waste disposal containers, bins, and bags, or to discuss our collection and disposal service, designed to provide you with peace of mind.
