Hazardous household waste

Clinical waste

Clinical waste must not be placed in your normal waste collection.

If you are treating yourself at home and the waste from your treatment is hazardous (i.e. where a risk has been noted based on medical judgment) or you are using syringes or sharps, a clinical waste collection will be needed.

If you need your waste collected, please contact Veolia on 0203 5676955.

Prices

From 1 April 2024 there will be no charge for the sharps waste collection service. This will continue up until 31 March 2025.

By providing this service to Southend-on-Sea residents free of charge, we hope to encourage more residents to dispose of their waste safely and responsibly.

For other clinical waste, the prices are as follows:

  • tiger sacks (roll of 50) - £14
  • collection (per visit) - £6.25

Further information

For more information about healthcare waste thats is produced in a household, please see the Healthcare Waste guidance on GOV.UK.

Sanpro waste:

  • sanitary towels
  • nappies
  • incontinence pads

Sanpro waste is not classed as hazardous if it comes from a person with a non-infectious condition or disease.

This means that if it is properly bagged and sealed, it can be disposed with other household waste in the rubbish sacks.

If you are having medical treatment at home, the healthcare professional running your treatment must remove the waste and arrange for appropriate disposal. This is because it is their responsibility.

Speak to your healthcare professional if you are unsure if it is hazardous or not.

We do not provide a service for clinical waste produced by:

  • hospitals
  • health clinics
  • GP's
  • residential homes
  • nursing homes
  • vets

If you find:

  • needles
  • syringes
  • other clinical waste

in a public area, please see our reporting needles, syringes and drug related waste page for what to do and how to report it.

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