Clinical waste collection

Clinical waste collection

Clinical, or medical waste, should not be placed in your black or recycling sacks - it requires a special collection, which we provide free of charge.

If a healthcare professional is administering your medication, they should dispose of the needles for you.
 

Christmas and New Year Clinical waste collections

Normal clinical waste collections resume from Monday 19 January 2026.
 

Arrange regular collections

First you need to register to use the service for regular or repeat collections.

Please ask your doctor or district nurse to email us to say that you require clinical waste collections and tell us what type of waste needs to be collected. Our email address is direct.services@sevenoaks.gov.uk.

Once your doctor has registered your clinical waste collection needs with us, complete our online form to arrange collections:

Book clinical waste collections

Booked clinical waste collections take place on the same day as your normal waste collection day.

If you call before 12 noon on the day before your collection day, it will be collected the next working day. If you contact us after this time, you will be added to the following week’s collection.
 

Arrange a one off collection

No registration is needed for one-off collections.

Book a clinical waste collection

Cancel collections

Cancel your clinical waste collection
 

Collection containers

For clinical waste excluding sharps boxes:

• We will deliver a free supply of special clinical waste sacks for you to use.

For sharps boxes:

• Your doctor will normally issue you a prescription for a sharps box for used needles and you can collect the box from your pharmacy. We do not supply new sharps boxes.

Putting your clinical waste out for collection

• All clinical waste should be left outside your property in an accessible place by 7am on the morning of your normal waste collection day
• Sharps boxes should not be left out for collection in any other bag or container
• Sealed and unused EpiPens, syringes and other sharp medical objects should be placed in a sharps box and not in your waste sacks.

We cannot collect your clinical waste if you have not taken the steps outlined above. 
 

Disposing of non-medical needles

To dispose of non-medical needles, please contact CRI (Crime Reduction Initiatives).
 

Commercial medical waste

The Environment Agency can supply a list of companies that can collect from commercial premises.

We do not collect on a commercial basis from nursing homes, clinics, doctors' surgeries or dentists.