Classify different types of waste
Healthcare and related wastes
The tables below list waste codes for common healthcare and related wastes.
You can find additional codes for other waste and advice on how to apply these codes in the technical guidance on waste.
Additional guidance
Check the guide to the safe management of healthcare waste for additional information about classifying clinical and healthcare waste.
Offensive waste
‘Offensive waste’ is non-clinical waste that’s non-infectious and does not contain pharmaceutical or chemical substances, but may be unpleasant to anyone who comes into contact with it.
| Examples | Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare offensive waste | Outer dressings and protective clothing like masks, gowns and gloves that are contaminated with body fluids, and sterilised laboratory waste | Non-hazardous | 18-01-04 | 18-02-03 |
| Municipal offensive waste | Hygiene waste and sanitary protection like nappies and incontinence pads | Non-hazardous | 20-01-99 | 20-01-99 |
You must segregate healthcare offensive waste from both clinical and mixed municipal wastes.
If you’ve produced more than 7kg of municipal offensive waste, or have more than one bag in a collection period, you must segregate it from any mixed municipal waste.
If you’ve produced less, you can dispose of your municipal offensive waste in your mixed municipal waste (‘black bag’). Use classification code 20-03-01.
Plaster and similar wastes
Most plaster waste is non-infectious.
It should be kept separately from any plaster waste that’s infectious, which must be placed in the bagged infectious clinical waste stream.
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plaster and similar wastes, for example from dentistry and fracture clinics | Non-hazardous | 18-01-04 | 18-02-03 |
Waste medicines
A medicine is considered to be cytotoxic or cytostatic for waste classification purposes if it’s any of the following:
- acutely toxic
- carcinogenic
- mutagenic
- toxic for reproduction
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cytotoxic and cytostatic medicines | Hazardous | 18-01-08* | 18-02-07* |
| Other medicines | Non-hazardous | 18-01-09 | 18-02-08 |
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Household medicines returned to a community pharmacy should be coded as follows:
- cytotoxic and cytostatic medicines: 20-01-31*
- other medicines: 20-01-32
Sharps and related waste
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cytotoxic and cytostatic contaminated | Hazardous | 18-01-08* and 18-01-03* | 18-02-07* and 18-02-02* |
| Other medicinally contaminated | Hazardous | 18-01-03* and 18-01-09 | 18-02-02* and 18-02-08 |
| Non-medicinally contaminated | Hazardous | 18-01-03* | 18-02-02* |
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Anatomical waste
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not chemically preserved - infectious | Hazardous | 18-01-03* | 18-02-02* |
| Not chemically preserved - non-infectious | Non-hazardous | 18-01-02 | 18-02-03 |
| Chemically preserved - infectious or non-infectious | Hazardous | 18-01-06* and 18-01-02*/03 | 18-02-05* and 18-02-02*/03 |
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Bagged clinical waste
You must only put waste items that are both infectious and chemically contaminated (for example some samples and diagnostic kits) in the yellow bag waste stream.
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infectious clinical waste (no chemicals or pharmaceuticals) - orange bag | Hazardous | 18-01-03* | 18-02-02* |
| Infectious clinical waste - yellow bag | Hazardous | 18-01-03* and 18-01-06* | 18-02-02* and 18-02-05* |
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
Laboratory chemicals and photochemicals
You must classify photochemicals and film, including X-ray related products, with codes from chapter 9 of the waste code section in the technical guidance on waste.
| Waste status | Human healthcare | Animal healthcare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other chemicals - hazardous | Hazardous | 18-01-06* | 18-02-05* |
| Other chemicals - non-hazardous | Non-hazardous | 18-01-07 | 18-02-06 |
(*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.