Household waste collection policy 2026

The council do not offer a separate collection for offensive i.e. non-infectious hygiene waste and sanitary protection like nappies, incontinence pads and sanitary products, unless excessive quantities are produced.

This waste should be double wrapped and placed in the waste container. Where a large quantity is produced, the household may be eligible for an additional general waste bin under Policy 7.

The council can provide a collection of infectious or potentially infectious bagged clinical waste, not contaminated with chemicals or medicines. To request this service, the resident needs to complete a declaration form to be countersigned by a GP or healthcare professional to confirm the type of waste that needs to be collected.

We do not need to know the medical condition of the resident applying for the clinical waste service.

• Infectious i.e. could transmit disease to others
• Produced by self-care of the applicant in their own home
• Not contaminated with medicines or chemicals
• Not needles or sharps
• Not incontinence waste

This waste must be securely contained in a tied, externally clean, orange clinical waste sack for collection. We will provide an initial allocation of orange sacks, and on the day of collection we will replace the number of orange sacks collected with new orange sacks for use on subsequent collections.

An agreed collection point, day of collection, frequency of collection and any other specific instructions regarding this service will be decided by the council. Requests for a collection must be made a week in advance.

We collect sharps i.e. medical supplies which could cause cuts or puncture wounds, such as: needles, syringes, lancets used with finger-pricking devices, needle clippers contained in approved sharps bins.

Sharps collections are a request-based service and can be booked online. The council may request residents to obtain sharps boxes from their health care professional.

If you are treated at home by an NHS or private nurse/healthcare professional, the nurse/healthcare professional should remove any healthcare waste produced for appropriate disposal.

The council offers residents a chargeable waste collection service for large (bulky) items that cannot be collected in household bins and can be booked online.

A full list of items can be found on the website and the service is subject to its own terms and conditions available outside of this Policy.