We have put together information on how you can safely dispose of clinical, medical and hygiene waste, including syringes.
To summarise:
- Hygiene waste – we can collect non-infectious waste such as nappies, sanitary towels and incontinence pads via your general waste household bin
- Clinical waste – this is waste which is infectious to humans and needs collecting separately and incinerating via our clinical waste service
- Sharps / needles / syringes – if you are self-medicating, you can put hypodermic needles and syringes in sharps boxes and take to a participating pharmacy (see list below)
Hygiene waste
You can dispose of some types of healthcare related waste in your black general household waste bin. We ask that you bag and tie this waste to avoid leakages:
- Nappies
- Sanitary waste
- Incontinence pads
- Plasters
- Wound dressings (non-infectious)
- Nasal and respiratory secretions
- Soiled bedding (vomit, blood, urine, faeces etc)
- Drained catheter and stoma bags
We can provide you with an additional black general waste bin if you have excess amounts of hygiene waste. In some circumstances, we can provide a collection on a weekly basis. This is only for residents who need to dispose of a larger amount of hygiene waste for medical reasons. Please email us at recycling@peterborough.gov.uk to make a request.
Clinical waste
We offer a free clinical waste collection service for residents who are treating themselves at home. You must be under the guidance of a GP or healthcare professional.
We provide this service for infectious waste only, such as:
- Surgical waste
- Swabs and dressings
Please note this service is not for residents who are being taken care of by a community nurse or other healthcare professional at home. In this case, the healthcare provider is responsible for disposing of the waste.
Call us on 01733 747474 or email ask@peterborough.gov.uk to discuss signing up to our free clinical waste collection service. We will also talk you through the process including collection days.
Sharps / needles / syringes
You should take your clinical sharps within prescribed containers to a participating pharmacy for disposal. You can get an empty sharps container from your GP practice or other healthcare provider.
If there are exceptional circumstances which mean that you, a relative or friend can’t make a visit to a participating pharmacy, please contact us on 01733 747474 to discuss collections.
A needle exchange programme is also available. View our drugs and alcohol advice page for information.
Assisted bin collection service
We can provide an assisted collection service to residents who are unable to move their bins to the kerbside due to ill health, disability or mobility issues.
Visit our assisted bin collection service page for more information.
Contact us
For any advice with regards to collections, please contact our Customer Service Team on 01733 747474 or email ask@peterborough.gov.uk.