Clinical wastes
The regulatory and legislative requirements surrounding the
management of clinical waste can be confusing at times. In this
section of the website we aim to provide access to guidance and
best practice for those involved in the management of clinical
wastes.
What is clinical waste?
Clinical waste is the term used to describe waste produced from
healthcare and similar activities that may pose a risk of infection
or may prove hazardous. It has different meanings to different
people and can be defined in different ways. The most commonly used
definition can be found in the Controlled
Waste Regulations 1992 
.
In practice, clinical waste can be divided into two categories
of materials:
- waste which poses a risk of infection
- medicinal waste
Clinical waste should be segregated from other types of waste
and be treated/disposed of appropriately in suitably permitted,
licensed or exempt facilities on the basis of the hazard it
poses.
Assessing and classifying your clinical waste
Healthcare wastes can be found in sub chapters 18 01
(wastes from natal care, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of
disease in humans) and 18 02 (wastes from natal care,
diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease in animals) of the
European
Waste Catalogue (EWC).
Clinical waste may be hazardous or non hazardous and like all
wastes it must be classified and assessed appropriately. Guidance
on the classification and assessment of clinical waste as special
(hazardous) waste can be found in the guidance document 'Hazardous Waste: Interpretation of the definition
and classification of hazardous waste (WM2)'.
The Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental
Research (SNIFFER) has produced a
guidance document which
provides assistance to those managing hygiene waste produced as a
direct result of healthcare and non-healthcare activities.
SEPA's position
Unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated that 'healthcare
wastes', i.e. those described by Chapter 18 of the EWC and EWC
20 01 31*, have been adequately segregated and categorised then
SEPA's default position is that healthcare waste should be
assumed to be special (hazardous) waste until and unless proved
otherwise.
Links to further guidance and good practice can be found in the
column on the right hand side of the page.