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{{org_field_name}}

Registration Number: {{org_field_registration_no}}

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Clinical and Hygiene Products Waste Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all clinical, healthcare, offensive/hygiene and associated waste generated at {{org_field_name}} is identified, classified, segregated, handled, stored, transported and disposed of safely, lawfully and in a manner which protects individuals, staff, visitors and the environment.

{{org_field_name}} will manage waste in accordance with the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016; the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended, in particular Regulations 56 and 57; the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the statutory waste duty of care; the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011; the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012; the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005, as amended; the Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2023, as amended; applicable health and safety legislation; and current Welsh national guidance, including Welsh Health Technical Memorandum WHTM 07-01 – Safe and Sustainable Management of Healthcare Waste.

Where medical sharps are used in circumstances to which the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 apply, {{org_field_name}} will also comply with those Regulations.

This policy supports compliance with Regulation 56 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, which requires the service provider to maintain satisfactory standards of hygiene, ensure the appropriate disposal of general and clinical waste, maintain effective infection prevention and control arrangements and provide the service in accordance with its infection control policies and procedures.

Waste management arrangements will be based on appropriate assessment of the waste at the point at which it is generated. Waste will not be classified as infectious clinical waste solely because it arises from care or healthcare activity. Waste that presents an infection, pharmaceutical, chemical, sharps or other hazardous risk will be segregated into the appropriate waste stream in accordance with current legislation and WHTM 07-01.

The aims of this policy are to:

• protect individuals, staff, visitors, contractors and others from avoidable exposure to infection, sharps injuries and hazardous substances;
• prevent cross-contamination and inappropriate mixing of waste streams;
• ensure that waste is correctly classified and segregated at source;
• ensure that hazardous and clinical waste is stored and transferred safely;
• ensure that only appropriately authorised persons transport, receive, recover or dispose of waste;
• comply with the statutory waste duty of care;
• comply with Welsh requirements for the separate collection of specified recyclable waste from non-domestic premises; and
• maintain auditable records demonstrating lawful waste management and disposal.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all staff working at {{org_field_name}}, including care staff, nursing staff, domestic staff, maintenance personnel, and external contractors involved in waste disposal. It applies to all areas of the service where clinical and hygiene waste is generated, including resident rooms, bathrooms, treatment rooms, sluice areas, kitchens, laundry facilities, and external waste storage areas.

3. Related Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with:
CHW11 – Safe Care and Treatment Policy
CHW16 – Health and Safety at Work Policy
CHW17 – Infection Prevention and Control Policy
CHW18 – Risk Management and Assessment Policy
CHW20 – Fire Safety and Evacuation Procedures
CHW24 – Management of Accidents, Incidents and Near Misses Policy

4. Policy Statement and Implementation

4.1 Classification of Clinical, Healthcare and Hygiene Waste

Waste generated at {{org_field_name}} must be assessed and classified at the point of generation so that it is placed in the correct waste stream. Staff must not assume that an item is infectious clinical waste solely because it has been used during the provision of care or healthcare.

The principal waste streams relevant to the service are:

• Infectious clinical waste – orange waste stream: waste which is known or reasonably suspected to contain infectious substances and which does not contain pharmaceutical or chemical contamination requiring a different waste stream. Examples may include infectious wound dressings, swabs or other items contaminated with infectious bodily fluids. Assessment of infection risk must determine whether this waste stream is appropriate.
• Infectious clinical waste contaminated with medicines or hazardous chemicals – yellow waste stream: infectious waste which is also contaminated with pharmaceutical products or chemicals and for which the yellow waste stream is required under current waste classification and disposal arrangements.
• Offensive/hygiene waste – yellow and black striped bags, commonly known as tiger bags: non-infectious healthcare or hygiene waste which does not contain pharmaceutical, chemical, cytotoxic, cytostatic, radioactive or sharps hazards. This may include incontinence pads, nappies, sanitary products, non-infectious dressings, non-infectious swabs and appropriate non-infectious personal protective equipment. Where an infection risk is identified, the item must instead be placed in the appropriate infectious clinical waste stream.
• Sharps waste: all needles, syringes with attached needles, lancets and other items capable of causing a sharps injury must be placed immediately into an appropriate purpose-designed sharps container. The container colour must correspond to its contents:
  • purple-lidded containers for sharps contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines;
  • yellow-lidded containers for sharps contaminated with medicines other than cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines; and
  • orange-lidded containers for sharps which are not contaminated with medicines.
• Medicinal waste: unwanted, expired or waste medicines must be segregated and disposed of through an authorised route in accordance with the service’s medicines policy, the nature of the medicine and current waste legislation. Cytotoxic and cytostatic medicinal waste must be identified and managed separately as hazardous waste where required. Liquid medicines must not be disposed of to the foul sewer unless a specific lawful disposal route permits this.
• General and recyclable waste: non-clinical waste which does not require management through a healthcare, hazardous or offensive waste stream must be placed in the appropriate residual or statutory recycling waste stream. Healthcare waste, hazardous waste and other contaminated material must not be placed in recycling containers.

Staff must use the waste container, bag, label and waste stream identified through the service’s waste assessment arrangements and current Welsh Health Technical Memorandum WHTM 07-01 guidance.

Where there is uncertainty about the correct classification of waste, staff must seek advice from the Registered Manager, Infection Prevention and Control Lead or the service’s authorised waste contractor before disposal.

4.2 Segregation and Collection at Point of Use

Waste must be segregated at the point at which it is generated. Staff must place each item directly into the correct designated container or waste stream and must not subsequently mix separately classified waste streams.

Clinical, infectious, offensive/hygiene, medicinal, sharps, hazardous, residual and recyclable waste must be kept separate in accordance with the classification of the waste and the disposal route agreed with the authorised waste contractor.

Waste containers must be:

• suitable for the type of waste being placed in them;
• appropriately colour-coded or otherwise clearly identifiable;
• clearly labelled where required;
• positioned safely and as close as reasonably practicable to the place where the waste is generated;
• kept secure against unauthorised access where the contents present a clinical, hazardous or sharps risk; and
• used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and the requirements of the applicable waste stream.

Clinical and offensive/hygiene waste bags must not be overfilled and must be securely closed before removal from the point of use. Bags must not be reopened, manually compressed or transferred by hand from one bag into another.

Sharps must be disposed of immediately after use into an appropriate sharps container. Sharps must never be placed in waste bags, recycling containers or general waste.

General and recyclable waste must be placed into the appropriate designated waste stream. Clinical waste, medicinal waste, contaminated personal protective equipment, hazardous waste or other materials which would contaminate a recyclable waste stream must not be placed in recycling containers.

Waste must be removed from care areas at a frequency sufficient to maintain satisfactory standards of hygiene and to prevent overflowing containers, odour, contamination, pest attraction or other health and safety risks.

Where internal trolleys or other equipment are used for transporting healthcare waste, they must be designated for that purpose and cleaned or decontaminated at appropriate intervals and following any leakage, spillage or contamination.

4.3 Storage of Clinical and Healthcare Waste

Clinical, infectious, offensive/hygiene, sharps, medicinal and other healthcare waste awaiting collection must be transferred to the designated secure waste storage area as soon as reasonably practicable after removal from the point of generation.

The storage area must:

• be secure against unauthorised access;
• be suitable for the type and quantity of waste stored;
• protect waste containers from damage, interference and adverse weather;
• allow different waste streams to remain appropriately segregated;
• be maintained in a clean condition;
• permit safe access for authorised staff and waste contractors;
• be managed so as to minimise odour, leakage, contamination and pest activity; and
• contain appropriate arrangements for responding to leakage or spillage.

Clinical and hazardous waste must not be stored in corridors, escape routes, bathrooms, communal areas or any other location where it may create an avoidable risk to individuals, staff or visitors.

Waste must be collected at a frequency appropriate to the type and quantity of waste generated, available storage capacity, infection and health and safety risks, contractual arrangements and any applicable legal or environmental permit requirements.

Waste must not be allowed to accumulate to a level which compromises hygiene, safe storage, fire safety or the safe operation of the service.

Where a scheduled waste collection is missed or disrupted, the Registered Manager or delegated person must contact the contractor promptly, assess the available safe storage capacity and implement contingency arrangements where necessary.

The external waste storage area must be routinely checked for:

• cleanliness;
• security;
• damaged containers;
• leakage;
• inappropriate mixing of waste streams; and
• evidence of pest activity.

Any defect or risk identified must be addressed promptly.

4.4 Sharps Safety and Disposal

All staff who use or handle medical sharps must follow safe systems of work designed to eliminate or minimise the risk of sharps injury and exposure to blood-borne infection.

Sharps must be disposed of immediately after use into an appropriate sharps container which is suitable for its contents and positioned as close as reasonably practicable to the point of use.

Sharps containers must be securely assembled, correctly labelled and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

The waste stream and lid colour must reflect the contents:

• purple-lidded sharps containers must be used for sharps contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines;
• yellow-lidded sharps containers must be used for sharps contaminated with medicines other than cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines; and
• orange-lidded sharps containers must be used for sharps which are not contaminated with medicines.

Sharps containers must never be filled beyond the manufacturer’s marked fill line. Once the fill line is reached, the container must be securely closed and locked in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and transferred to the designated secure waste storage area.

Needles must not routinely be re-sheathed, recapped, bent, broken or otherwise manually manipulated after use.

Where the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 apply, recapping must not take place unless a documented risk assessment identifies that recapping is itself necessary to prevent a risk and an appropriate device is used to control the risk of injury.

Any sharps injury, needlestick injury or exposure to blood or bodily fluid must be reported immediately in accordance with CHW24 – Management of Accidents, Incidents and Near Misses Policy.

Immediate first aid must be provided and the affected person must receive prompt assessment and access to appropriate medical or occupational health advice, treatment and follow-up.

Where the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 apply, the incident must be recorded and investigated to establish the circumstances and cause of the injury and to identify any action required to prevent recurrence.

Where required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, the incident must also be reported to the relevant enforcing authority.

4.5 Infection Prevention and Control Measures

All handling of clinical, healthcare and hygiene waste must be undertaken using standard infection prevention and control precautions and in accordance with CHW17 – Infection Prevention and Control Policy.

Staff must undertake a risk assessment appropriate to the task and use the personal protective equipment required for the waste being handled and the risk of exposure. This may include disposable gloves and aprons and, where identified by the risk assessment, additional protective equipment.

Hand hygiene must be undertaken after removing personal protective equipment and after handling waste, including following the handling of waste containers or bags where contamination may have occurred.

Staff must not manually sort through clinical, offensive/hygiene or sharps waste after it has been discarded.

Waste bags must not be manually compressed in order to create additional capacity.

Any leakage or spillage of blood, bodily fluids, clinical waste or other potentially hazardous material must be dealt with promptly in accordance with the service’s infection prevention and control and spillage procedures.

Appropriate equipment and materials must be readily available for managing spillages safely.

Reusable waste trolleys, containers and other equipment must be cleaned and, where required, decontaminated following contamination or leakage and at intervals determined by the service’s cleaning and waste-management arrangements.

Where equipment or a container is visibly contaminated, damaged or no longer suitable for safe use, it must be removed from use until it has been appropriately cleaned, repaired or replaced.

Staff must report any failure in waste segregation, leakage, sharps hazard, exposure incident or other waste-related infection prevention and control concern without delay so that immediate corrective action can be taken.

4.6 Waste Disposal Contracts, Authorised Persons and Legal Compliance

{{org_field_name}} will comply with its statutory duty of care in relation to all controlled waste produced by the service.

Waste must only be transferred to a person who is authorised to receive or transport that waste.

Before entering into or renewing waste collection arrangements, {{org_field_name}} must take reasonable steps to confirm, as applicable, that:

• the waste carrier, broker or dealer holds the registration required by law;
• the receiving waste facility holds an appropriate environmental permit or valid exemption covering the waste concerned;
• the contractor is authorised to handle the particular waste stream being transferred; and
• the collection and disposal arrangements are compatible with the classification of the waste.

Appropriate waste transfer documentation must accompany or document each transfer of waste.

For non-hazardous controlled waste, an appropriate Waste Transfer Note or lawful season ticket arrangement must be maintained. Waste Transfer Notes must contain an accurate description and classification of the waste and must be retained for at least two years.

Where hazardous waste is transferred and a hazardous waste consignment note is required, the applicable parts of the consignment note must be completed and copies retained for the period required by the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005, as amended, which is normally at least three years for the producer or holder.

Documentation must accurately identify the waste being transferred, including the appropriate waste description and classification code.

Staff responsible for arranging waste collection must check documentation for accuracy rather than relying solely upon information entered by the contractor.

Evidence of waste carrier registration, environmental permits or exemptions where applicable, contracts, Waste Transfer Notes and hazardous waste documentation must be available for audit and regulatory inspection.

Collection schedules must be monitored to prevent unsafe accumulation of waste.

Any failure of a contractor to collect waste as arranged must be escalated promptly and contingency arrangements implemented where necessary to ensure that waste remains safely contained and the service can continue to operate safely.

4.7 Separation of General Waste and Recyclable Materials

{{org_field_name}}, as the occupier of non-domestic premises in Wales, will comply with the applicable separation requirements for recyclable waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2023, as amended.

Specified recyclable waste must be presented separately for collection and must not be mixed with residual waste, clinical waste, offensive/hygiene waste or hazardous waste.

As applicable to the waste produced at the service, the following recyclable waste streams must be separately presented for collection:

• glass;
• cartons and similar packaging, metal and plastic;
• paper and card;
• food waste where the premises produces 5 kilogrammes or more of food waste in any period of seven consecutive days;
• small waste electrical and electronic equipment; and
• unsold textiles.

From 6 April 2026, the requirement relating to small waste electrical and electronic equipment applies to unwanted small electrical and electronic equipment within the scope of the legislation and is not limited to unsold items.

Waste which is hazardous, or which is contaminated by hazardous substances or healthcare waste, must not be placed in a recycling stream where doing so would contaminate that stream or contravene applicable waste classification requirements.

Food waste must be separately presented for collection where the statutory threshold is met.

Food waste must not be disposed of to sewer. Equipment such as a macerator or liquidiser must not be used to dispose of food waste into a drain or sewer.

Separately collected recyclable materials must not subsequently be knowingly mixed with another waste stream contrary to the statutory separation requirements.

The Registered Manager must ensure that suitable, appropriately labelled containers are available and that staff understand which items belong in each waste stream.

Waste collection arrangements must be reviewed where the service changes the types or quantities of waste it produces.

Waste transfer documentation and collection arrangements must accurately describe the waste being transferred and demonstrate that the service has arranged lawful collection of its waste.

4.8 Staff Training and Awareness

All staff whose duties involve generating, handling, segregating, storing, transporting internally or arranging the collection of waste must receive information, instruction and training appropriate to their responsibilities.

Training must be provided during induction and refreshed at intervals determined by the service’s training arrangements and whenever changes to legislation, national guidance, waste streams, equipment or local procedures materially affect staff responsibilities.

Training relevant to the staff member’s role must include:

• identification and classification of clinical, infectious and offensive/hygiene waste;
• correct use of colour-coded bags and containers;
• statutory separation of recyclable waste;
• prevention of inappropriate mixing of waste streams;
• sharps safety and correct sharps-container selection;
• medicinal and hazardous waste arrangements where relevant;
• infection prevention and control precautions;
• appropriate use of personal protective equipment;
• hand hygiene;
• management of spillages and leakage;
• safe internal transport and storage of waste;
• action following a sharps injury or exposure incident;
• incident and near-miss reporting; and
• responsibilities under the service’s waste duty of care arrangements where relevant to the staff member’s role.

Staff responsible for arranging waste collections or checking waste documentation must understand the requirement to use appropriately authorised waste carriers and receiving facilities and to maintain accurate waste transfer and hazardous waste documentation.

The Infection Prevention and Control Lead, {{org_field_infection_control_lead_name}}, and the Registered Manager will monitor compliance through audits, observations, incident review and refresher training where deficiencies are identified.

4.9 Auditing, Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

The Registered Manager and Infection Prevention and Control Lead will carry out regular audits of waste segregation, storage, handling, cleanliness and compliance with this policy.

Audits will include, where relevant:

• correct classification and segregation of clinical and healthcare waste;
• correct use of colour-coded waste bags and containers;
• correct sharps-container selection and use;
• separation of statutory recyclable waste streams;
• security and cleanliness of internal and external waste storage areas;
• waste collection arrangements;
• waste carrier and contractor authorisations;
• Waste Transfer Notes and hazardous waste consignment documentation;
• incidents involving spillages, leakage, sharps injuries or incorrect waste disposal; and
• staff knowledge and compliance with waste-management procedures.

Audit findings must be documented and reviewed by the Registered Manager and relevant leads.

Where an audit identifies non-compliance, unsafe practice or another deficiency, proportionate corrective action must be taken promptly. This may include:

• immediate correction of unsafe waste arrangements;
• additional staff instruction or training;
• revision of local procedures;
• review of waste containers or storage arrangements;
• review of contractor performance;
• investigation of incidents or recurring failures; and
• escalation to the service provider or Responsible Individual where appropriate.

Waste-related incidents, injuries, near misses, complaints and recurring segregation failures must be reviewed to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.

Relevant findings must contribute to the service’s wider quality assurance and Quality of Care Review arrangements.

Where an incident meets a statutory notification or reporting threshold, it must be reported to Care Inspectorate Wales, Natural Resources Wales, the Health and Safety Executive or another relevant authority in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

The service’s waste-management arrangements must be reviewed following relevant changes in legislation, Welsh Government or national guidance, CIW requirements, WHTM 07-01, contractor arrangements or identified risks.

Continuous improvement will be supported through audit findings, incident learning, staff feedback, changes in legislation and national guidance, and improvements in safe and sustainable waste-management practice.

5. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and sooner where necessary following:

• a change in legislation or statutory requirements;
• a change in CIW requirements or Welsh Government statutory guidance;
• publication or revision of relevant national guidance, including WHTM 07-01;
• a change to the service’s waste contractor, waste streams or waste-management arrangements which materially affects this policy;
• a significant waste-management, infection-control, sharps or environmental incident;
• an audit identifying that the existing arrangements are ineffective or non-compliant; or
• enforcement action, formal advice or other relevant communication from Care Inspectorate Wales, Natural Resources Wales, the Health and Safety Executive or another competent authority.

The Registered Manager is responsible for ensuring that the policy remains current, that arrangements described within it are implemented in practice and that staff are informed of changes relevant to their roles.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
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