Various healthcare waste items require different treatments to ensure the safety of clinicians, patients, and the wider environment around us. This ranges from recycling or treatment to incineration or landfill.
The journey starts with the clinician, who must appropriately separate the waste generated in the dental practice. The colour code system set out in the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-01 makes this easier to remember and follow, allowing each team member to contribute to an improved waste segregation and disposal system.
It does however require consistently refreshed knowledge of the system and the significance of each colour.
The most common forms of waste
In all, HTM 07-01 lays out 13 different colours to separate healthcare waste into. Although it isn’t mandatory to follow the guidance provided, dental practices that implement disposal routines of the highest standards will help to protect their team, patients, and the environment.
The waste stream you will likely use the most is signified by two colours yellow and black and is ‘tiger stripe’. This is for offensive/hygiene waste. The NHS clinical waste strategy, laid out in early 2023, aims for all NHS providers to segregate their waste items so that 60% are offensive waste by 2026. In practice, this could include used, non-infectious PPE, even those contaminated by blood and body fluids, as well as sanitary waste and nappies.
Infectious material
Note the key signifier for offensive waste in this waste steam is for it being “non-infectious”. If this is not the case, two other colours enter the fray – orange and yellow.
Orange waste containers are used for infectious items, meaning they have been contaminated by a patient who has a known infection or transmissible disease, or even a history of infection such as with a
bloodborne virus. An item may also be infectious if it is or has come into contact with a laboratory culture, stock, or sample of infectious agents. This waste may go on to receive alternative treatment, which is less energy-intensive than the incineration of items in the yellow waste stream.
A waste product is placed into the yellow waste stream when it is infectious with a Category A pathogen, medicine, or chemical. This is unlikely to be encountered often in a dental practice, but a yellow waste container should be on hand just in case.
Dental Specific
Some dental-specific waste is given its very own category in the colour coding scheme, with white. This is used for amalgam, as well as gypsum. Containers must be labelled with the contents, and any infectious material must be separated into its own bin. Amalgam containers are not only differentiated by their white colouring, but the mercury vapour suppressant that is used to protect both professionals and patients.
Reinforcing knowledge
Several other colours are used to identify and separate waste that may be produced in the dental practice.
Purple bins signify that waste is cytotoxic/cytostatic, which is needed if you provide cosmetic procedures such as botulinum toxin injections. Red indicates the waste is anatomical, whereas blue shows the waste is pharmaceutical, and includes the likes of used/partially used anaesthetic cartridges. The black waste stream is used for municipal waste, such as everyday packaging.
With such a wide range of colours and requirements for each waste stream, it can be helpful to have reminders on hand around the practice. As experts in waste management, Initial Medical provides free-to-download colour code posters online, which can be displayed throughout your practice for momentary reminders.
It is advisable to bring your team together regularly to review your waste management responsibilities. This way you can ensure that you have your colour code system down to a fine art.
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