You and Your responsibilities for Healthcare & Medical Waste Disposal
Following our last article on the The What Who & Why of healthcare waste we are now taking a look at the “How” you can ensure your Business is complying with legislation and “Where” should you place the waste for collection (into what type of bin or bag for each type.
As a “producer” of this waste the responsibility of ensuring its safe handling and eventual disposal sits with YOU. That includes small and home businesses practicing in any healthcare or medicinal / human or animal capacity – so covers Acupuncturists, Beauticians, Chiropractors, Chiropodists, Tattoo artists, Vets – basically any business using and producing waste from sharps, materials contaminated with bodily fluids, PPE, body parts, chemicals and medicines, medical devices and radioactive materials.
How and Where ….Can I ensure that I’m doing it properly!
Under the Duty of Care and the Hazardous Waste Regulations mixing of waste is prohibited in England and Wales. The producer of clinical waste is legally required to properly sort, classify and describe their waste. This is done primarily through segregation into the correct colour coded receptacles (bins!) – which can be accessed here:
Greencircle Direct Healthcare Waste Wheel
The guidelines still leave a lot of room for confusion. So we decided to speak with lots of our sources and pull together our very own wheel explaining what belongs in which colour stream.
Where do I put them? Which Bin or Bag? Sharps and Non Sharps
So we now know what the colours all mean and where they are going to as a final destination but what types of bins or bags do I need to use for my business? Here is a another wheel showing what goes in what!
References and sources
This article was produced for Green Circle Direct by Sophie Green and uses information from the sources below.
To ensure YOUR business is complying with the legislation and to help save you £’s whilst helping to save the planet click the button below for an instant, no obligation quote for a fully compliant, safe and ethical service.
*1 Controlled Waste Regulations Act 2012: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/811/contents/made
*2 https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/health-care-waste & beds (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/nhs-hospital-bed-numbers
*3 UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme https://www.unep.org/
*6 https://www.gov.uk/how-to-classify-different-types-of-waste/healthcare-and-related-wastes