Non-hazardous clinical waste

Non-hazardous clinical waste can be disposed of as normal household waste in your black refuse bin.

We recommend that non-hazardous waste is double bagged to ensure no leakages.

Types of non-hazardous clinical waste include:

• Sanitary towels
• Nappies and incontinence pads - unless the person / child has a medical condition that requires them to be treated as hazardous clinical waste
• Incontinence bed pads
• Stoma bags
• Catheter bags
• Minor first aid dressings

This excludes waste from medical treatments.

What needs to be collected and disposed of separately

Infectious waste needs to be disposed of separately which is incinerated to prevent the spread of infection. Examples include:

• Waste from infectious disease cases
• Waste from wound infections and other acquired infections
• Human hygiene products and dressings from infectious cases
• All sharps' including hypodermic needles and syringes with needles attached.

Infectious waste is collected separately from your normal waste in specially provided sacks. Collections are provided free of charge and the frequency of collections is dependent on the needs of each case.

Infectious waste is collected weekly on a Wednesday.

Collection of Sharps' boxes

Sharps' boxes are collected monthly on a Wednesday. 

Request a new container, collection or exchange

If you require a new sharps' container, please note that these are the standard 5 litre containers.

You can use the form below to request a new sharps' box, a collection or an exchange.

Residents under the care of a health professional

If you are treated at home by a community nurse or a member of the NHS profession, the health professional should remove any waste produced as a result and take it back to the trust base for appropriate disposal.

Clinical waste sack collection

We offer a separate clinical waste collection, which is free, where the quantity of healthcare waste is seven black bags or more per week or where the waste has been identified by a healthcare professional as infectious.

Accessing the service

If you are already registered with us, you can request a collection and new bags using the link above.

If you are a new customer you will need to have a referral from your:

• GP; or
• hospital or community nurse, for example, District Nurse

You can download an application form below.

Once you and your healthcare professional have filled in the form please send it to:

Stevenage Borough Council
C/o Direct Services
Daneshill House
Danestrete
Stevenage
Herts SG1 1HN

or email it to customerservicecentre@stevenage.gov.uk