Clinical Waste Guide
A good understanding of clinical waste is important to ensure your business stores, handles, and disposes of it safely. There are many health hazards and environmental risks when managing such types of rubbish. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide to clinical waste to help you identify and manage it responsibly.
Get to grips with ensuring you comply with the relevant regulations and learn what happens to clinical waste once it leaves your premises. Our clinical waste services can also ensure you manage it effectively. Discover how to dispose of clinical waste, the various methods of disposal, and answers to other common questions.
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Contents
- Is clinical waste hazardous?
- Are incontinence pads clinical waste?
- How is thermal treatment used for clinical waste disposal?
- What chemical methods are used for clinical waste disposal?
- How does using an irradiative method work for clinical waste disposal?
- How does using a biological process work in clinical waste disposal?
What is the definition of clinical waste?
Clinical waste means the waste created in healthcare settings that may be infectious or harmful. The definition of clinical waste is far-reaching as there are many different types produced in various settings. It covers any items contaminated with bodily fluids, tissue, medicines, as well as body parts and used medicines.
Clinical waste is often referred to as medical, healthcare, or biomedical waste. If a waste item has the potential to spread infection or disease then it’s a kind of clinical waste and must be managed safely.
How to dispose of clinical waste
To dispose of clinical waste from your business the first step is storing it in the correct clinical waste bins, bags, or containers. Then you must arrange collection by a licensed waste carrier, who will ensure removal, transportation, and disposal of clinical waste is done in a safe, legal, and responsible manner.
These are the main steps to dispose of clinical waste:
- Conduct a waste audit to identify where you produce clinical waste and the types and volumes
- Separate clinical waste from other materials and store it securely in individual bins, bags, and containers
- Arrange removal by licensed waste carriers who transport it to a treatment or disposal facility
- Get a duty of care certificate that confirms the safe and legal removal and disposal of clinical waste from your business
- The waste will be treated, incinerated, or destroyed to protect human health and the environment
How is clinical waste
disposed of?
How clinical waste is disposed of depends on the type of waste you need removing. Most clinical waste is disposed of by incineration. Very high temperatures are applied to the waste, combusting and destroying the organic substances that make up clinical waste materials. Incineration is commonly used for anatomical, cytotoxic and cytostatic, radioactive, and contaminated sharps waste.
An alternative way clinical waste is disposed of is by thermal disinfection systems. Heat is applied to clinical waste to render it non-hazardous, so it can then be recovered, disposed of, or recycled in an alternative way. Clinical waste such as dressings, swabs, and gowns are more likely disposed of via thermal disinfection.
What happens to clinical
waste after collection?
After collection, the clinical waste disposal procedure depends on the type of medical waste. High-temperature incinerators dispose of some clinical waste accordingly. These operate at a minimum temperature of 1,100°C to destroy it. Clinical waste may also go to autoclave and microwave facilities where appropriate.
There are strict guidelines and clinical waste regulations for dealing with medical waste as it has the potential to be extremely dangerous to humans, animals, and the environment.
Who needs clinical waste services?
Many businesses and industries produce some examples of clinical waste, not just healthcare facilities and providers. For example, it’s necessary to have hygiene disposal units for the removal of female sanitary products in any women’s or unisex workplace bathroom, while tattoo artists require sharps bins for their used needles.
Some of the main businesses that require clinical waste services are those dealing with healthcare activities for humans and animals. These include:
- Agricultural waste – different kinds of animal waste, unused and expired animal medicines.
- Care home waste – medicine waste, contaminated PPE, bedding, used needles.
- Dentistry waste – various sharps, pharmaceutical waste, and contaminated PPE.
- Hospitals and surgery waste – blood products, anatomical waste, contaminated gowns, masks, and equipment.
- Laboratory waste – contaminated tools such as Petri dishes and glass slides.
- Veterinary waste – contaminated animal training pads, bandages, used and expired medicines.
What is non-clinical waste?
Non-clinical waste is any rubbish produced in a healthcare environment that’s not infectious and doesn’t pose a risk of spreading disease. Common examples of non-clinical waste include offensive waste such as used sanitary products and nappies. It can also refer to non-contaminated packaging from medicines and other medical items.
Is clinical waste hazardous?
Lots of clinical waste is hazardous when it poses a risk of harm to human health and the environment through exposure. This includes cytotoxic and cytostatic waste and items contaminated with it, such as many sharps, and medicines contaminated or containing a hazardous pharmaceutically active agent.
Not all clinical waste is hazardous though. Non-cytotoxic and non-cytostatic medicines are not hazardous. Offensive healthcare waste is also not hazardous as it’s not infectious and contains no chemical substances, such as nappies, outer dressings, and masks not contaminated with infectious bodily fluids.
The UK government site has a classification of hazardous clinical waste types.
Are incontinence pads clinical waste?
Incontinence pads are not clinical waste in most cases. They’re a type of sanitary waste and offensive waste that’s not pleasant but poses no risk of infection to anyone exposed to them. Incontinence pads only become clinical waste if the person using them has an infectious disease. Most incontinence pads can be disposed of in sanitary waste bins.
How is thermal treatment used
for clinical waste disposal?
The main process for disposing of clinical waste is thermal treatment – used to treat sharps and infectious waste. It utilises high temperatures to make the waste combustible and no longer harmful. Useful materials are resistant to thermal conditions and go through the process without getting damaged, while the waste material is burned.
There are a few ways to perform thermal treatment including:
Autoclave procedure
This involves processing chemical waste by exposing it to high levels of heat, steam, and pressure in an autoclave machine. There are two systems of autoclave – batch or continuous flow process.
- Batch system – Waste is exposed to temperatures as high as 1600°C, pressures of 6 bar (gauge) and steam. Plastics melt, papers disintegrate, and labels are removed while bottles and metallic objects are cleaned.
- Continuous flow process– Waste such as stones, glass, and metals are removed from the initial waste before the automated autoclave process begins. This saves significant levels of energy while cutting down on labour and equipment costs.
Hybrid autoclave systems function similarly. However, they’re incorporated with other technologies so they can also function as washers and sterilisers.
Continuous steam treatment systems
This gets rid of the chemical and clinical waste while enhancing specific material properties – such as firmness and resistance to corrosive and abrasive forces.
Frictional heat treatment systems
Heat for waste combustion is generated through impact and friction. The residue is sterilised and later reduced into manageable volume through fine grinding and drying. This method can be used as an alternative to incineration. Studies show it has near-zero negative environmental impact and it significantly reduces the waste quantity.
Incineration
This involves exposing waste to heat to burn its organic components, converting them to ash, gas, and heat. The gas produced is commonly known as flue gas and is treated to rid it of pollutants before releasing it into the atmosphere. The heat can be utilised to generate electric power.
What chemical methods are used
for clinical waste disposal?
For chemical and liquid waste that falls under clinical waste, chemical methods are often used. Several options are available for medical waste disposal through chemical treatment.
- Ion exchange – Unwanted portions of waste are passed through a system where they’re exchanged for other ions with the same charge. This method uses the principle of ion attraction and repulsion. A solid known as a resin is loaded with the desired ions and the liquid with the undesirable ions passes through it. Undesirable ions are attached to the resin, while the desirable ones are released into the liquid. It is most suitable in the treatment of medical liquid waste and the water purification process.
- Oxidation and reduction – This involves reduction and oxidation (redox) chemical reactions. The oxidised substance loses electrons, while the reduced one gains electrons. This method reduces the content of biochemical oxygen demand in waste water – reducing its levels of toxicity.
- Neutralisation – This is a chemical process that involves making waste less acidic or basic before disposal. A pH probe placed in the waste solution senses the pH levels of liquid waste and sends this information to a pH controller. This results in the injection of acid or caustic as per the interpreted pH.
- Precipitation – Precipitation aims to remove unwanted chemical components by singling them out. A precipitating reagent is added to waste material, after which an insoluble matter forms. This makes it easier to separate waste from the rest of the components.
How does using an irradiative method work
for clinical waste disposal?
An irradiative method employs microwave technology in pathogen inactivation. It’s typically used for sharps and infectious waste disposal. Recently microwaves have been upgraded for the treatment of bio-hazardous waste with technologies that control the moisture content. The introduction of microwaves in waste management brought about the advantages of minimised energy loss and reduced heating periods.
There are two systems designed for microwaving – batch and continuous microwave technologies:
- Batch systems– involves controlled heating of waste with automatic moisture control.
- Continuous systems– uses a shredding mechanism for disposing of substantial amounts of bio-medical waste.
How does using a biological process
work in clinical waste disposal?
With biological processes for disposing of clinical waste, enzymes are utilised to break down certain chemical components of waste matter. It’s quite underdeveloped though and rarely used in waste disposal.
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Get a fast FREE quote for your clinical waste
- Free quote within 1 hr
- Any type of clinical waste
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- We cover all of the UK
Published 14th February 2025 by Graham Matthews.