Care Home Waste Collection & Disposal
Care and nursing home waste isn’t too different from the rubbish you produce in your own home. However, the much larger volumes and increased risk posed by sharps, pharmaceutical, clinical waste, and hazardous substances create a few extra challenges. We can help you dispose of nursing and care home waste safely and efficiently.
As care homes and nursing homes class as businesses, you have a legal duty of care to ensure all the commercial waste you produce is stored, removed, and disposed of responsibly. Clinical and pharmaceutical waste is also regulated under the Health and Social Care Act (2008) and Health Technical Memorandum HTM 07-01. Wherever your care home is located, we can help arrange collection by licensed waste carriers to dispose of all your waste appropriately from anywhere in the UK.
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Get a fast FREE quote for care home waste collection
- Free quote within 1 hr
- Any type of care home waste
- FREE bins and delivery
- We cover all of the UK
What types of waste
do care homes produce?
Nursing and care homes are quite diverse when it comes to the waste types they produce. About 80% of the waste from nursing care homes is made up of municipal solid waste (MSW), which can go in your typical rubbish bins.
As well as general and food waste, and mixed recycling, medical and healthcare waste is a big area. While most of this isn’t hazardous, there are stricter rules regarding disposal of hazardous and infectious waste.
Some of the main types of waste care homes produce and examples of each include:
- Pharmaceutical waste – cytotoxic drugs and related waste
- Offensive waste – non-infectious hygiene waste such as incontinence pads, wipes, gloves, and other materials that may contain bodily fluids but are not classed as infectious.
- Sanitary waste – used incontinence pads
- Clinical waste – medications, swabs, wound dressings
- Textile waste – beddings, blankets, and old clothes
- Sharps waste – used needles, syringes, and knives
- Dental waste – fillings, amalgam, and any medications
- Food waste – leftovers from meals and the kitchens
- General waste – collected from residents’ rooms
- Dry mixed recycling – food and drinks packaging, parcels, and boxes
Clinical waste collection for
care homes
Clinical waste is one of the most regulated waste streams. Items such as used dressings, swabs, soiled PPE, and incontinence products with bodily fluids can all pose an infection risk.
It’s important not to put clinical waste in general waste bins. Under HTM 07-01 (the UK healthcare waste management guidance), care homes must segregate clinical waste using the colour-coded bag and container system:
- Orange bags for non-infectious clinical waste.
- Yellow bags (and yellow/black striped for hazardous) for infectious or potentially infectious waste.
- Purple bags and containers for cytotoxic and cytostatic pharmaceutical waste.
We’ll advise on appropriate bags, containers, and colour-coded equipment. Collections can be arranged daily, twice-weekly, or weekly depending on your care home’s volume of clinical waste.
Nursing home
waste disposal
The right method of nursing home waste disposal depends on the type of waste. At Business Waste we work on a zero landfill policy, diverting as much rubbish away from landfill as possible. This means the likes of glass, plastic, paper, and dry mixed recycling from your care home will be transported to a nearby facility for appropriate sorting, treatment, and recycling.
The likes of general waste can be incinerated to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF), but sometimes it may end up in landfill if there’s no alternative. Most food waste can be composted or will be transported to a nearby facility for anaerobic digestion, which produces biogas and biofertiliser.
With clinical waste it also depends on the type. Any infectious and/or hazardous substances in a care home are usually sent for incineration to remove any risk to both human health and the environment. Non-infectious waste may be treated and recycled in some cases.
Pharmaceuticals that have either expired or not been used should ideally be returned to the pharmacy or you’ll need specialist collection. As your waste disposal contractor, we can give you some guidance on what to do with any pharmaceutical or clinical waste your care or nursing home generates.
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Nursing home
bins
Nursing homes need a wide range of bins in various sizes to hold different waste types both inside and outside the facility. Each resident should have at least one small bin in their room for general waste, while it’s a legal requirement for every bathroom to have a sanitary bin.
Often the cleaners will empty these daily, usually moving general waste from small bins into a larger container such as a 1100 litre wheelie bin outside. This can then be collected daily, weekly, or fortnightly for proper disposal. There are also specific bins, bags, and containers available to safely store types of clinical, food, sharps, and pharmaceutical waste.
Bins should be clearly labelled, easy for staff to access, secure between collections, and positioned away from resident areas where possible. Our expert team can advise you on the best bins for your care home waste management needs. Explore some common bins used to store waste from nursing and care homes.
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240L wheelie bin
Can be for just food or glass waste, or to store four to five bags of general or recycling waste.
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Sanitary waste bins
Available in various sizes to use in the bathrooms around your care home for both residents and staff.
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Cytotoxic and cytostatic waste bags
Purple waste bags for PPE, patches, and disposable garments contaminated by cytotoxic and cytostatic medicines.
Care home
waste collection
At Business Waste, we can provide free bins for your care or nursing home to safely store every type of waste you produce. Simply select the type, size, and number of bins you need, and we’ll deliver them to your care home anywhere in the UK.
You just have to arrange and pay for collection. This can be on a daily, weekly, or fortnightly schedule – depending on the size of your care home and amount of waste you need removing. We appreciate every nursing home is different and offer flexible terms, so you can get different bins collected at different times.
We can also help review your current waste setup to identify contamination risks, overfilled bins, missed recycling opportunities, and collection schedules that may need adjusting.
Our licensed waste carriers will pick up your bins, bags, and containers from an accessible point at an agreed time. They’ll then transport to a nearby waste disposal and recycling facility for safe and efficient disposal – avoiding landfill wherever possible. We can tailor our care home waste management services to suit your business.
Care home waste management plans
A care home waste management plan helps staff handle waste consistently across the site. It should set out what waste streams your care home produces, how each one is separated, where bins are stored, and how often collections take place.
A clear plan should also cover duty of care paperwork, staff training, spill procedures, sharps incidents, and steps to reduce contamination. Business Waste Ltd can help review your care home’s waste setup and arrange the right bins, containers, and collection schedule for each waste stream.
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Select your free bins
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Arrange delivery
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Fill up your bin
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Care home
waste regulations
All storage and disposal procedures for hazardous waste materials are set out by a variety of acts, including the:
- Environmental Protection Act 1990
- Special Waste Regulation Act 1996
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Failure to adhere to these procedures could result in fines and/or prison sentences. Given the duty of care to look after the elderly residents you have, it’s vital to dispose of used medications correctly and make sure they don’t mix with non-expired medications.
Simpler Recycling in Care Homes
Care homes in England with 10 or more full-time staff must separately collect four waste streams from general waste.
These are:
- Food waste from kitchens and dining areas
- Glass bottles and jars
- Paper and cardboard
- Mixed recyclables (plastic, metal, cartons)
These streams cannot be mixed with general waste and must be collected separately by a licensed carrier. Care homes should implement separate bins for these streams throughout the residence. We’ll provide all required bins to ensure care homes meet their Simpler Recycling obligations.
Digital Waste Tracking for Care Homes
From October 2026, Defra’s Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) system becomes mandatory for all licensed waste sites in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This includes Care Homes.
DWT requires that every waste movement must be logged digitally within 48 hours. This replaces paper-based Waste Transfer Notes with a digital record system, providing a traceable audit trail from waste production to final disposal.
Care homes that produce clinical, pharmaceutical, or other regulated waste will need to ensure their waste is being handled by a registered contractor from October 2026. We’re preparing for DWT compliance and will ensure all collections from your site are fully documented and reportable through the new digital system. Feel free to contact our team if you have any questions about DWT.
How to dispose of
clinical waste in a care setting
To dispose of clinical waste in a care home, it’s essential that you have the right waste bins and bags to safely store each type. This helps reduce the risk of cross-contamination (especially important when dealing with potentially hazardous and infectious clinical waste). Plus, it ensures each waste type should be disposed of in the proper way.
When it comes to sharps (needles, syringes, or lancets), there’s an increased risk of laceration or infection. There are plastic sharps bins you can use that are designed to hold sharps and avoid punctures.
Separate clinical waste by type and store it in the appropriate bins or bags. These are available in different colours to help you easily sort and store each one. Types of clinical waste bags available include:
- Highly infectious hazardous waste – Yellow Clinical Waste Bags
- Cytotoxic and Cytostatic Purple Waste Bags
- Anatomical Waste – Red Clinical Waste Bags
- Clinical Non-infectious – Yellow and Black Clinical Waste Bags
- Clinical Infectious Waste – Orange Clinical Waste Bag
- Dental (Amalgam) Waste – White Clinical Waste Bag
Care home waste
FAQs
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How should you dispose of controlled drugs in a care home in England?
Controlled drugs refer to types of medicines that must be safely administered, stored, or disposed of. This is because they have the potential to be dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands – they could be misused or sold illegally, for example.
Care and nursing homes in England often handle lots of different drugs and medications to provide proper care for their patients. However, for many reasons, they’re also responsible for ensuring the drugs are properly disposed of.
You may need to dispose of medication for the following reasons:
- Patient death (drugs can only be given to the person they were prescribed)
- Drugs past expiry date
- Changes in treatment
You can keep track of what medicine needs to be disposed of and when by ensuring your records are up to date. When opening controlled drugs, check their expiry date and how long they remain useful when open.
The process of disposing of drugs is straightforward. They simply need to be returned to the supplier, such as a local pharmacy or doctors’ surgery. They’ll dispose of them properly. Drugs should not be thrown away with general rubbish.
We can help you with any type of specialist waste disposal produced by your nursing or care establishment. This includes confidential waste, which is disposed of responsibly and with due care.
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What hazardous substances are in a care home?
Most hazardous substances in a care home are related to the medical care provided. From drugs and medicines to any PPE that gets contaminated with it, it can all require proper hazardous waste disposal to protect human health and the environment. It’s important all care home staff are aware of the hazardous substances present and proper storage and disposal methods.
The main types of hazardous substances in a care home can include:
- Expired or unused medicines
- PPE contaminated with hazardous substances
- Bandages, dressings, and wipes
- Cleaning products
- Solvents and paints
- Chemical waste
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Whose responsibility is it to ensure waste is correctly disposed of in care?
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 it’s the responsibility of any business that produces, keeps, stores, transports, or disposes of waste to ensure it’s done properly. This includes care homes as they class as a business and generate what’s referred to as controlled waste.
Therefore, it’s your responsibility to ensure all care home waste you produce is stored, removed, and disposed of in a safe, legal, and environmentally friendly manner. Even when it’s left your care home, you still have a responsibility for the waste, so should use licensed waste carriers to guarantee proper steps are followed for its transport and disposal.
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Does the CQC inspect care homes?
Yes. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) assesses waste management practices during care home inspections as part of its evaluation.
Inspectors typically look for:
- Correct waste segregation with clearly labelled containers
- Evidence of staff training on waste handling
- Duty of Care documentation
- Correct storage of clinical and pharmaceutical waste
We’ll provide the documentation, colour-coded equipment, and evidence that care homes need to demonstrate CQC compliance.
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What is Digital Waste Tracking and does it apply to care homes?
Digital Waste Tracking (DWT) is Defra’s new mandatory system for recording waste movements. From October 2026, all licensed waste sites must log waste transactions within 48 hours through the DWT system.
Care homes that produce clinical, pharmaceutical, or other regulated waste will be affected.
We’ll prepare your site for DWT compliance and ensure all collections are fully documented within the new system.
Get a fast and free quote
Get a fast FREE quote for care home waste collection
- Free quote within 1 hour
- Any type of nursing home waste
- FREE bins and delivery
- We cover all of the UK
Published 12th April 2022 by Mark Hall. Last modified 8th July 2026