We collect clinical (medical) waste from Newham residents for free. Special rules apply to the way we collect and get rid of this kind of waste to ensure it’s done safely. We only collect waste produced by the householder. Waste from visiting healthcare professionals should be taken away by them for safe disposal elsewhere.
How to request a clinical waste collection
Call us on 020 8430 2000, and we will take your details and let you know when we will collect your bags or containers. Depending on your needs we can arrange for a regular collection, or on an as needed basis.
Whatever container we collect we will replace. For example, if you leave two boxes and three bags with medical waste we will replace them with two new boxes and three new bags so that you can always keep medical waste contained safely.
Clinical waste bags
When you use clinical waste bags:
- Please don’t fill the bags more than two-thirds full
- Never put any household or non-clinical waste into the bags – it’s a specialist, expensive process to treat clinical waste and non-clinical items add to this significantly, as well as causing delays
- Tie the bags before we collect them
- Store your bags outside of your property in a safe, dry place away from children and animals while you wait for us to collect them. Please tell the contact centre where the items are located if it will not be immediately visible to crews.
You can put the following items in a yellow clinical waste bag:
- Wound dressings
- Swabs
- Incontinence pads
- Stoma bags (you must empty the bag into the toilet before you put it in the clinical bag)
- Items used to get rid of urine, faeces and other bodily fluids.
Do not put any pressurised canisters or aerosols in a clinical waste bag. Put these items into your recycling bin, once they are used up.
Boxes for sharp items
A ‘sharps’ container is for collecting clinical waste that would tear a bag and could cause injury to waste processing staff. The boxes are normally yellow, and you can use them for:
- Syringe needles
- Broken glass
- Any other sharp items of clinical waste.
Store your box(es) outside of your property in a safe, dry place away from children and animals while you wait for us to collect them. Please tell the contact centre where the items are located if it will not be immediately visible to crews.
Make sure that the lid is locked shut before we collect the box, and do not fill the box above the level marked on it.
Ordering extra containers and bags
If you need extra bags or containers, call us on 020 8430 2000 and we will arrange this for you for free if you live in Newham.
