Clinical waste

Clinical waste poses significant health risks to others and must be collected separately from other waste.

About clinical waste

Clinical waste that we will collect includes:

• Blood or other bodily fluids
• Human excretions
• 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

Domestic healthcare waste which falls within these categories must be collected separately from other domestic waste. Never mix clinical waste with your general refuse or recycling. 

Note that the best way to dispose of unwanted medicines is to take them to your local pharmacist

Request clinical waste collection

Medisort will collect domestic clinical waste upon request from local residents who produce this waste at home. However, where clinical waste is produced in the course of treatment by healthcare professionals, they are responsible for managing that waste, even if it is produced in your home, so it is not covered by the council's contract.

Medisort offer two free services:

• Weekly - orange sack clinical waste collection
• One-off - yellow sharps box collection

Request collection

Complete Medisort's contact form, leaving the 'company' and 'job title' fields blank.

Amend or cancel collections

To change the collection date or if you no longer require this service contact Medisort by:

• Visit Medisort website
• Email: ask@medisort.co.uk
• Telephone: 01903 719646

You will then be given an option to join Medisort’s self-service portal which can be used for all subsequent service change requests.

Non-infectious healthcare waste

Non-infectious domestic healthcare waste such as incontinence pads should be double-wrapped and disposed of along with your domestic waste in a black bag. This should ideally be contained in a dustbin, especially if left out overnight. If you are currently receiving collections for non-infectious healthcare waste, contact Medisort to cancel the service.

If you are not sure whether you need a separate clinical waste collection service or not, ask your healthcare service provider or contact Medisort.