YOUR WASTE - YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
FACTSHEET: Treating Offensive or Hygiene Wastes For Landfill
This fact sheet is aimed at producers and subsequent holders of offensive or hygiene
waste that is disposed in landfill and highlights the range of existing options already in
use for treating this waste.
What Are Offensive or Hygiene Wastes?
This term is used to describe healthcare wastes and similar municipal wastes, other than
clinical and hazardous waste, that are not infectious but which may cause offence to
those coming into contact with them. Examples may include nappies, feminine hygiene,
animal bedding, dog faeces, and incontinence wastes.
Offensive or hygiene wastes are produced as either;
- a non-hazardous waste separated from other healthcare wastes, or
- separately collected waste separated from other non-hazardous municipal wastes.
What is the new requirement?
From 30 October 2007 non-hazardous waste must be treated before it can be landfilled.
The requirement to treat waste is part of a package of measures, applied across Europe
by the Landfill Directive. The rules are designed to:
 Increase waste recycling and recovery.
 Reduce potentially polluting emissions from landfills.
What do we mean by treatment for landfill?
Treatment is intended to encourage us to recycle more and reduce the impact of the
waste that continues to be landfilled.
The definition of treatment requires three things (the “three-point test”):
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It must be a physical, thermal, chemical or biological process including sorting (for
example source segregation by the producer), and
It must change the characteristics of the waste, and
It must do so in order to:
(a) reduce its volume, or
(b) reduce its hazardous nature (applicable to waste with hazardous properties), or
(c) facilitate its handling (at the landfill site), or
(d) enhance its recovery.
As a healthcare waste producer what do I need to do with my healthcare waste?
The segregation system detailed in HTM 07-011 has been developed to deal with
offensive or hygiene waste arising from healthcare activities, i.e. those wastes classified
as 18 01 04 or 18 02 032.
Environment and sustainability – Health technical memorandum 07-01: Safe management of
healthcare waste, Department of health 2006
2 The List of Waste (England or Wales) Regulations 2005
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Where this source segregation system has been implemented for healthcare wastes the
requirements of the three-point test for landfill will also have been met. Your waste
contractor is likely to ask you to confirm that you have implemented this segregation
system to enable them to landfill your waste.
As a domestic householder what do I need to do with my waste?
You do not need to take any further action.
If you currently dispose of your offensive or hygiene waste in the domestic, 'black-bag'
waste stream collected by the local authority, no further action is needed because
local authorities are already subject to strict targets to divert municipal waste from
landfill. We therefore regard the waste in their control as meeting the three-point test for
treatment.
Alternatively you may dispose of your offensive or hygiene waste in a separate
container:
1. If the waste is a healthcare waste separated at the direction of a healthcare worker in
accordance with HTM 07-01, no further action is needed. The waste contractor
may seek confirmation from the healthcare organisation to confirm that they have
provided you with the appropriate advice and containers.
2. If the waste is municipal waste separated for any reason from the black-bag waste
stream and collected by the local authority or private contractor on their behalf then
no further action is needed. The treatment requirement for this waste is met by the
local authority targets for municipal waste.
What should other producers of municipal offensive or hygiene waste do?
These will include primarily feminine hygiene waste from lavatories in shops, offices and
public areas, nappies from nurseries and mother and baby facilities, incontinence waste
from care homes and dog faeces from collection bins.
We regard this as having been separated from the remainder of the waste stream from
these “municipal” premises – the “black bag waste”. To meet the three point test, one of
the separated fractions must be further treated.
This might be the black bag waste. For example, by separating and recycling a
proportion of it (such as drinks cans, paper, cardboard, compostable food waste,
recyclable plastics etc). It might alternatively be at a treatment plant such as an
incinerator or composting plant. Where a local authority collects the waste, we regard it
as having been so treated, because of other legal requirements upon them.
Where the black bag waste is treated as above, the residues, which include the
offensive waste because it was originally part of the waste stream, may be landfilled.
The offensive waste could also be treated. This could also be at a treatment plant, and
again the residues, including the black bag waste, are regarded as treated.
Offensive waste is also commonly treated in the storage bins with a chemical agent.
Where chemical agents are effective in reducing the number of micro-organisms and
therefore reducing nuisance (for example odour) on the landfill this will facilitate the
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handling of the waste and therefore meet the pre-treatment requirements. We are
considering research to explore the effectiveness of chemical agents in these waste
streams and will review this position when this is complete.
A waste contractor who collects offensive/ hygiene waste is likely to ask for confirmation
that either;
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the local authority collect your municipal, black-bag waste, or
you segregate a reasonable proportion of your other waste for recycling, or send it to
a treatment plant.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to segregate my Offensive / Hygiene waste or can I place it in the black
bag ?
As a householder you should segregate this material where advised to do so by your
local authority (e.g. brown bin collection) or a healthcare professional. In other
circumstances small quantities of this material can be place in the black-bag domestic
waste stream.
As a healthcare care worker this waste must be segregated in accordance with HTM 0701, with the offensive/ hygiene waste in ‘tiger’ bags, to enable your organisation to meet
the three point test for landfill.
As a producer of municipal offensive/ hygiene waste, other than a householder, this
waste should be segregated where this in indicated in HTM 07-01. In general this would
apply where the waste is generated in a quantity that would warrant a separate bag in a
collection interval. A quantity of 7kg or more is used to indicate where a separate bag
should be used.
Where can I get more advice?
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More advice can be found in Treatment of non hazardous wastes for landfill3.
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Talk to your waste contractor or trade association about what opportunities are
available for your waste.
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Free government-supported environmental consultation, advice, and documentation
is available from Envirowise4.
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Advice for complying with environmental legislation is provided by Netregs5
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http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO0207BLWJ-e-e.pdf
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www.envirowise.gov.uk/
www.netregs.org.uk
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