When working in veterinary care, it’s important to ensure that all waste items are safely and securely managed to protect veterinarians, clients and their animals.
Like any other form of healthcare, treatments delivered in veterinary facilities create waste items which if not autoclavable and reusable require disposal. To manage these properly, veterinary professionals must use classifications and colour codes for disposal as set out by regulatory bodies.
How to separate and colour-code common veterinary waste
‘Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste’ (HTM 07-01) is industry-defining guidance set out by NHS England. The work broadly mentions “healthcare organisations” throughout, with veterinary services specifically included and affected.
To properly dispose of various waste types, practitioners should refer to the colour code in HTM 07-01. It assigns different types of waste to the following container colours:
- Highly infectious/medical/anatomical waste requiring incineration or alternative treatment – Yellow
- Known infectious waste – Orange
- Cytotoxic and cytostatic waste – Purple
- Offensive/hygiene waste – Yellow and black (tiger stripe)
- Anatomical waste – Red
- Radioactive waste – Yellow with the radioactive trefoil
- Municipal waste – Black
Veterinary team members should know common examples of each type of waste. This can create confidence that future items are disposed of correctly by identifying the common risks that they present.
Examples of veterinary waste types
The most difficult differentiation is between highly infectious waste (orange) and known infectious waste (yellow).
Put simply, if a clinical waste item is thought to be infectious but doesn’t feature another hazardous property (for example, a phlebotomy needle/syringe used to take an unwell animal’s blood), it is a known infectious waste item that should be placed in an orange container. Where another hazard is present, such as a risk of medical or anatomical contamination (like with a needle used to supply a pharmaceutical), used items must be placed in a yellow container.
Cytotoxic and cytostatic waste may be produced in some veterinary services such as those treating animals with cancer. These products are inherently toxic to cells, a benefit to the treatment aims, but troublesome should they be disposed of incorrectly and potentially contaminate the environment – for example, in a landfill. Therefore, cytotoxic and cytostatic items (from drugs and their containers to syringes used to administer them) must be placed in purple containers and managed by a specialist waste service.
Offensive waste includes unpleasant items that do not present a risk of infection, for example, a bandage used to secure a wound that is contaminated by blood but the animal is not thought to have an infection, or simply soiled bedding. Place these items in tiger stripe containers.
Anatomical waste, aptly designated to red containers, may include amputated tissue or blood bags. This waste must be stored in refrigerated units unless it is on-site for less than 24 hours (or 72 hours over a weekend) as per Waste Segregation Guidelines.
Radioactive waste could include products generated from radiographic procedures and should be handled with care and stored in yellow containers with a clear radioactive trefoil adorned upon them.
Other waste items, such as regular municipal waste, or recyclable items, will be treated in the same way they would at home i.e. black bin bags or a recycling box.
Choose safe containers
The veterinary practice must be organised to ensure that waste containers are accessible to practitioners but safely kept away from animals and their owners. Lidded bins must be used for sharps, but may also be appropriate in environments where an animal could get loose and puncture a bag containing soft items, putting themselves at risk of harm.
Initial Medical provides an effective, colour-coded range of clinical waste containers. This includes the Griff Pac container, which is environmentally friendly and fully compliant with veterinary guidelines, and is ideal for dry and wet clinical waste. Consider also rigid waste containers from Initial Medical, which are made from 100% recycled plastic, and are hermetically sealed to prevent leaks. Get in touch to learn more today.
