Clinical Waste and Sharps Collections

If you inject yourself with medication, you should now take your sharps waste to a participating pharmacy in your area for safe disposal. This free service is available to all residents who need it.

Click here  to search for your nearest participating pharmacy or call 0344 800 8020

GP surgeries are no longer accepting sharps waste.

If you are unable to take your used medical sharps to one of the pharmacies on the list, please contact
your district council to arrange a home collection.

Only dispose of used sharps in specialist sharps bins.

A sharps bin is a specially designed rigid box with a secure lid, which is available on prescription (FP10 prescription form) that can be dispensed, along with medication.

Used sharps must not be placed in general household waste or recycling bins. 

Clinical waste:
Clinical waste including sharps waste produced at a domestic property is household waste.

Clinical waste includes: 

• Sharps (including needles, syringes or other sharp instruments).
• body fluids or other biological material (including swabs or dressings) containing or contaminated with pharmaceutical products or anything that maybe infectious.

Clinical waste must not be placed in either normal domestic or recycling waste.

Offensive waste:
Offensive waste is different to clinical waste,  This waste should be appropriately bagged and can be placed in normal domestic waste bins but must not be placed in a recycling bin.

Offensive waste is:

• Non-clinical waste that’s non-infectious and doesn’t contain pharmaceutical or chemical substances, but may be unpleasant to anyone who comes into contact with it.
• Offensive waste includes hygiene waste and sanitary protection like nappies and incontinence pads.
• If there are significant quantities of offensive waste generated that would result in difficulties being included within domestic refuse (non-recyclable), please contact your local council to inquire about additional collections or bins.

Healthcare providers who treat patients in their own home and produce clinical waste as a result of treating patients are under a duty of care to manage the waste they produce. The healthcare provider must make their own arrangements for such waste.

Care Homes/Nursing Homes should make their own contractual arrangements for the disposal of clinical waste; if it is as a result of community pharmacies providing an additional/enhanced service to the care home then the pharmacy should be making separate arrangements for the disposal.