Clinical Waste Regulations

Clinical waste can be hazardous or harmful and cannot be disposed of in regular waste receptacles, general waste bins, skips or recyclate bins. It is commonly produced in hospitals, labs, and clinics but can also be produced in other types of businesses or homes. It could be anything from human or animal tissue, to drugs or medicines, pharmaceutical products, needles or syringes (and other sharp objects), swabs or dressings. 

All businesses have a legal responsibility to dispose of clinical waste safely, and it is part of the statutory duty of employers under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA), Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) and Hazardous Waste regulations made under the Environmental Protection Act.

The safe disposal of clinical waste must be managed in line with several other regulations which relate to the storage, collection and disposal of clinical waste. An extensive, but though exhaustive, list of the legislation and regulations includes:

  • Controlled Waste Regulations 2012
  • The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011
  • Hazardous Waste Directive 2011
  • Carriage Of Dangerous Goods Regulations 2009
  • Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005
  • List of Wastes Regulations 2005
  • Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 2003
  • COSHH Regulations 2002
  • The Environmental Protection Act 1990

Breach of the regulations by an employer or employee is a crime, punishable by summary conviction or on indictment by an unlimited fine.

So what is clinical waste?

Clinical waste can pose a risk of infection when handled. There are many different types of clinical waste, each requiring special care in its disposal. Understanding clinical waste can help you dispose of it correctly and prevent contamination, the main categories for clinical waste are:

  • Infectious waste containing pathogens
  • Pharmaceutical waste
  • Pathological waste containing human tissue or fluid
  • Chemical waste
  • Sharp wastes
  • Radioactive waste
  • Pressurised containers
  • High heavy metal content

Understanding the importance of proper clinical waste management is essential for any business with the above waste.  We offer professional services that ensure complete compliance with UK regulations, whether it’s advice, collection, treatment, or disposal, we’re here to help you at every step. We can take care of all the paperwork related to our collections, which means you can have the documentation you need to prove your compliance with UK waste regulations.

Contact us today for a free, no-obligation quote on our expert waste management services. We’re always happy to help!


Easter Holiday Closures

The Easter holidays will soon be upon us and like many of you, we'll be taking a few days off.  We will be CLOSED:

  • Bank Holiday Friday 7th April
  • Saturday 8th April
  • Sunday 9th April
  • Bank Holiday 10th April

During this period, we will not be responding to emails but will pick them up on our return on Tuesday 11th April.

Please also note all customers should let us know their opening times by Thursday 30th May.  To avoid any ‘wasted journey charges’ due to site closures, please provide the following information to our customer services team

Company Name

Site and Postcode

Please give site access details for all of the below dates, including your open times

Good Friday 7th April
Saturday 8th April
Easter Sunday 9th April
Bank Holiday Monday 10th April

Please also advise if you would like any scheduled waste collections that are likely to be affected rescheduled for an earlier/later date (this may not always be possible, but we will always try our best to accommodate your business needs.)

If you do not request a reschedule or inform us of closure, your waste collection will be completed as usual.


Time to give the office a spring clean?

At this time of year, when preparing for the financial end of year, it's common to unearth files upon files of financial information and other documentation. However, it presents the perfect opportunity to declutter and reorganise your workspace for the year ahead.

Both financial and GDPR documentation is sensitive information and must be disposed of securely. If not, your company could be open to a security breach. In contrast, GDPR fines are a potential outcome of not complying with legal regulations when using and storing people's personal information.

Secure confidential paper shredding should be used when removing out-of-date financial information, personal information, and other sensitive information. Footprint Recycling offers a range of various services, both on and off-site, to suit most requirements when it comes to secure destruction, and we will provide an official Certificate of Destruction when we have completed the job so that you can feel safe in the knowledge that your documents have been securely destroyed, legally and ethically.

Whether you require regular, ad-hoc, or one-off confidential paper shredding services, we provide a compliant, highly professional, secure, convenient, and cost-effective solution to all your paper shredding.

If you would like to chat about paper shredding or recycling, please call us on 01484 660770 or email us.

 


2023 New Regulations around Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

From 1st January 2023 new legislation from the Environment Agency came into effect regarding the storage and disposal of waste upholstered domestic seating containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

From this date, upholstered furniture containing POPs cannot be safely disposed of in general waste or in landfill sites and should be treated as a separate waste stream. This means that these items must be safely disposed of through incineration.

POPs are poisonous chemical substances that remain intact in the environment for long periods and are harmful to the environment, wildlife and humans if they are not disposed of safely.

Investigative work carried out by The Environment Agency has identified quantities of POPs and other hazardous chemicals in the foam of upholstered seating.

Upholstered waste domestic seating examples, this includes any part made of or containing leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam:

  • Sofas
  • Sofa beds
  • Armchairs
  • Kitchen and dining room chairs
  • Stools and foot stools
  • Home office chairs
  • Futons
  • Bean bags, floor and sofa cushions

The following items of domestic seating are unlikely to contain POPs:

  • Items that are not upholstered, without cushions.
  • Deckchairs
  • Wastes from manufacturing new domestic seating (and the manufacturer can demonstrate do not to contain POPs)
  • Mattresses, curtains, blinds and beds are not domestic seating and are not covered by this guidance.

POPs may also be found in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), this may include:

  • Office equipment – non-household types such as photocopiers and printers
  • Printed circuit boards
  • Cables and granulated cable plastics
  • Plastic cases from display devices (flat panel displays and cathode ray tubes)

For more details on WEEE that may contain POPs please visit the .gov website for further details.

Customers must inform us if they have any upholstered furniture containing POPs so we can arrange safe and legal collection.  Please note we are no longer able to collect any of these items if they are left outside as part of your general or other waste. 

For further information about the new regulations, visit .gov.


Looking after you at Christmas

On behalf of all us at Footprint Recycling,  we would like to thank all our customers and suppliers personally for our continued success in 2022, and take this opportunity to wish you and all your families a fantastic Christmas and New Year.

We'd also like to extend our thanks and Christmas wishes to all our colleagues at Footprint Recycling for their support throughout the year.

We'll be taking a few days off over the holidays but will be open in and amongst, if you need to contact us we'll be open🌲⁠ on the following dates:

⁠Friday 23rd - our offices will close at 3.30 pm⁠
Monday 26th - Tuesday 27th - our offices are CLOSED⁠
Wednesday 28th - Friday 30th - our offices are OPEN⁠
Monday 2nd January - our offices are CLOSED⁠
Tuesday 3rd January - OPEN AS NORMAL.

We hope 2023 brings success and prosperity to you all.

Clare & Robyn