Offensive waste disposal
Offensive waste is waste from healthcare and personal care that is not infectious and has no medicines or chemicals in it, but that people would not want to see in an ordinary bin: incontinence pads, sanitary waste, couch roll, gloves and aprons from routine care.
It goes in yellow and black striped tiger bags, travels on a waste transfer note rather than a hazardous consignment note, and goes to energy from waste or landfill instead of high-temperature treatment. That is why moving it out of orange bags is the single biggest saving most practices can make.
Weekly 240 litre lift, council tariff
£9.61 vs £52.75
Hygiene bin against clinical bin, South Derbyshire District Council 2026/27
What goes in a tiger bag
Only waste that has been assessed as non-infectious. If in doubt, your infection control lead decides.
Yellow and black (tiger)
Incontinence pads, nappies, sanitary waste, stoma bags from patients with no infection, couch roll, gloves, aprons and wipes from routine care, plaster casts with no infection.
Energy from waste or landfill
Orange
Not this: the same items from a patient with a known or suspected infection go here instead.
Alternative treatment (heat or chemical) or incineration
Black or clear
Not this: hand towels and packaging with no body fluids are ordinary waste.
Trade waste: recycling, energy from waste or landfill
What offensive waste collection costs
Clinical waste is priced per container and per collection, so the figure that matters is what you fill and how often it goes. Use these as a budget check before you ask for prices.
| Item | Published figure |
|---|---|
| Hygiene waste sack, with disposal South Derbyshire District Council commercial tariff 2026/27, per sack | £3.20 |
| 240 litre hygiene waste bin, with disposal South Derbyshire District Council commercial tariff 2026/27, per weekly lift | £9.61 |
| Clinical waste sack, with disposal, for comparison South Derbyshire District Council commercial tariff 2026/27, per sack | £18.01 |
| 240 litre clinical waste bin, for comparison South Derbyshire District Council commercial tariff 2026/27, per weekly lift | £52.75 |
Where these figures come from
Per-container and monthly ranges are typical figures from published UK clinical waste price comparisons, autumn 2026, excluding VAT, and are a guide, not a quote. Council figures are from the South Derbyshire District Council fees and charges 2026/27 (VAT "where applicable"), and sharps bin supply prices from Hull City Council. All read November 2026. Council tariffs are useful benchmarks because they are published; private contractors set their own prices.
Rules and paperwork for offensive waste
The duty of care sits with the practice that produces the waste, even once it is on the contractor's lorry.
- Assess before you segregate
- Waste is offensive only if it is not infectious, so the decision sits with whoever assesses the patient or resident. NHS England's HTM 07-01 aims for 60% of healthcare waste to be segregated as offensive by 2026 (HTM 07-01, section 2.8).
- Waste transfer note
- Tiger-bag offensive waste and ordinary trade waste are not hazardous, so they move on a waste transfer note instead. Many contractors issue one note covering a year of identical collections. Keep transfer notes for two years (GOV.UK, managing your waste).
- Codes
- 18 01 04 for offensive waste from human healthcare, 18 02 03 from animal healthcare, and 20 01 99 for similar waste outside healthcare, such as sanitary bins in offices (Environment Agency colour table).
- A registered carrier
- Under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 you must take reasonable steps to make sure the firm collecting is allowed to. Check its waste carrier registration and the permit of the site it delivers to on the Environment Agency public register before you sign.
Where our information comes from
- NHS England: HTM 07-01, safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste (2022 edition)
- Environment Agency: types of healthcare waste by packaging colour
- GOV.UK: healthcare waste pre-acceptance, acceptance and tracking
- GOV.UK: hazardous waste, producers and holders
- legislation.gov.uk: Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34
Want separate prices for offensive waste and clinical waste so you can compare the saving?
Get collection pricesHow an offensive waste service gets set up
Tell us the practice
Postcode, type of practice, the streams you produce, roughly how many bins or bags a month and any contract end date.
We name a contractor
We find a licensed contractor that collects in your postcode and handles your streams, then tell you who it is before anything is passed on.
Survey and written price
The contractor sizes tiger-bag bins alongside your clinical streams and prices each per lift in writing, so you can see what moving waste between them is worth.
Collections and paperwork
Containers are delivered, the first collection is booked, and every visit leaves a consignment or transfer note for your records.
Questions practice managers ask
What is offensive waste?
Non-infectious waste from healthcare or personal care that may cause offence because of its appearance or smell, such as incontinence pads, sanitary waste and used gloves and aprons. It is not hazardous.
What is the difference between offensive waste and clinical waste?
Clinical waste is infectious or contains medicines or chemicals and is hazardous; it goes in orange, yellow or purple and is treated or incinerated. Offensive waste is not infectious, goes in tiger bags and can go to energy from waste or landfill.
What colour bag is offensive waste?
Yellow with black stripes, known as a tiger bag, in England. Some organisations use other colours by agreement with their contractor, so check your audit.
Do I need a consignment note for offensive waste?
No. Offensive waste is not hazardous, so it moves on a waste transfer note, which can cover a year of identical collections. Keep transfer notes for two years.
How much cheaper is offensive waste to dispose of?
Much cheaper. One council's 2026/27 tariff charges £9.61 a weekly lift for a 240 litre hygiene bin against £52.75 for a 240 litre clinical bin. Private prices vary, but the gap is similar in kind.
Get offensive and clinical waste prices
Three short steps: where the practice is, what you produce, and how to reach you. It takes about two minutes and nothing is booked.
This is a free matching service, not a waste contractor. We find a licensed clinical waste contractor that collects in your postcode and tell you its name first. No contractor calls until you agree.
Thanks, your enquiry is in.
- We look for a licensed clinical waste contractor that collects your waste streams in your postcode, then email or call to tell you who it is.
- That contractor only gets your details once you agree.
- They confirm containers, collection frequency and a price in writing, along with the duty of care paperwork. No marketing from us, ever.