Author: Rebecca Waters – Category Manager at Initial Medical
It’s important to look at the dental team’s waste responsibilities from a wider perspective.
Steps such as item segregation and container choice are not in place just to meet practice standards such as Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01).[i] Instead, they’re for the safety of patients, clinicians, and other individuals who may go unseen in the waste workflow, and even the wider environment.
Looking at the ethical responsibilities of waste management can help clinicians realise the magnitude of their actions, even if at first glance they pale in comparison to the treatment of patients in the dental chair.
Protecting the planet
The NHS clinical waste strategy, published in March 2023, delves into the transformation of the waste workflow with a greener lens; it aims to eliminate unnecessary waste, increase reuse where appropriate, and reduce carbon emissions by 30% over 10 years, setting the course for net zero by 2040.[ii] It was a significant step towards a more sustainable healthcare system, and promised to improve training for NHS care providers.[iii]
Healthcare systems contribute to approximately 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions,[iv] and the waste produced plays a notable part in this. Plastic items are a particularly significant issue, comprising 30% of overall healthcare waste.4 The various risks to the environment from these plastics include the potential for loose waste, and the contamination of ecosystems and the food chain with microplastics.[v] To combat this, clinicians must work with trusted waste management services to ensure that plastic waste is accounted for throughout the workflow.
Recycling where possible is also paramount. HTM 07-01 highlights the issue of overclassifying waste when assessing its hazardous properties which results in a higher rate of clinical waste incineration, when often, a more sustainable alternative would suffice.[vi] By appropriately segregating waste at source, clinicians are single-handedly able to reduce the greenhouse gases produced in dental care.
Stay sharp
The waste workflow separates waste items in many different ways, including the physical properties of an object. For example if it is ‘a sharp’ or contains liquids then a plastic bag should not be used. Instead, a puncture-proof or leak-free solution is needed, whilst sharps containers can contain very minimal amounts of liquid waste, these waste types should be separated.6
One of the ethical responsibilities here is the storage of waste items knowing that they will be handled by another individual further along the workflow. When ‘a sharp’ is incorrectly stored, the risk of percutaneous injury is created.
A 2022 systematic review noted that data on the prevalence of sharps injuries in the UK (measuring professionals who had experienced exposure to ‘a sharp’ in the previous 12 months) swung wildly from incidences of 3.33%, 6.25% and 5.88% all the way to 38% and 32%, dependent on the studies observed. The difference may be due to the disparity between official incident reports, and actual experiences, suggesting some exposures are not recorded but that the issue is rife.[vii]
When a clinician is disposing of sharps, they need to use an appropriate container to minimise any immediate risk of harm to a patient, themselves, and other practitioners. There are also many other individuals to think about, including those that collect the waste from the dental practice, and each person involved in the disposal process at a waste management site.
Dental teams should regularly review guidance concerning the management of sharps waste, and safely assort items according to the physical hazards they present.
Medicinal management
When managing procedures for patients, clinicians may provide local or general anaesthetic to help individuals through the treatment, or indeed prescribe other medications to treat oral health needs. The dental team has a clear responsibility to ensure that all pharmaceutical products and waste are appropriately stored and disposed of. This includes having processes in place to manage patient returns, as well as expired items. Storing medicines that are waiting to be disposed of in an area separate from those still in use is the gold standard.[viii]
In line with HTM 07-01, pharmaceutical waste items should be stored in a blue lidded container, once again separated by their physical properties.6 Appropriate storage and labelling ensures the correct provision of pharmaceuticals is carried out, protecting patients throughout their care.
When reviewing the responsibilities held by the dental team concerning waste management, the choice of containers is the best place to start. Initial Medical, a British owned waste management service with over a century of expertise, provides high-quality and compliant waste containers for dental practices. This includes the Griff Pac containers, which are colour coded in line with HTM 07-01. Each is made from at least 70% recycled plastic, making them a green solution, and they help clinicians safely organise dental waste every day, from clinical waste to pharmaceutical items.
Dental waste management must protect clinical teams, patients, the environment at large and waste disposal technicians. When next discarding an item, it’s worth considering the impact an item could have if it was stored or segregated incorrectly, and embrace the responsibility this creates to protect those around you.
To find out more, get in touch at 0808 304 7411 or visit the website today www.initial.co.uk/medical
About Initial Medical
Initial Medical set the standard in healthcare and infectious waste management in the UK, providing a reliable, effective and fully compliant service built around customer needs and delivered by our highly trained local teams. We are ISO 9001:2015 accredited, with technology fully integrated into our operations, providing full traceability of service delivery, electronic waste documentation and the best customer experience possible. We also offer innovative healthcare waste management services and infection control products, to help break the chain of transmission and prevent cross contamination.
Initial Medical are a company with a ‘World Class’ Health and Safety record, and ISO 45001:2018 accreditation. We are also accredited to ISO 14001:2015 environmental standards, and pride ourselves on our sustainable approach with a focus on delivering eco-friendly products and operational solutions.
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[i] NHS England, (2023). Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste. (Online) Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/B2159iii-health-technical-memorandum-07-01.pdf [Accessed June 2025]
[ii] NHS England, (2023). NHS clinical waste strategy. (Online) Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/estates/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/ [Accessed June 2025]
[iii] NHS England, (2023). NHS clinical waste strategy, long read. (Online) Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/ [Accessed June 2025]
[iv] D’Alessandro, C., Szopik‐Depczyńska, K., Taddeo, R., Cheba, K., & Ioppolo, G. (2025). Tackling Environmental Impact: A New Support Tool for Sustainable Healthcare Waste Management. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.
[v] European Environment Agency, (2024). Plastics. (Online) Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/plastics [Accessed June 2025]
[vi] NHS England, (2023). Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste. (Online) Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/B2159iii-health-technical-memorandum-07-01.pdf [Accessed June 2025]
[vii] Cook, E., Woolridge, A., Stapp, P., Edmondson, S., & Velis, C. A. (2023). Medical and healthcare waste generation, storage, treatment and disposal: a systematic scoping review of risks to occupational and public health. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 53(15), 1452-1477.
[viii] Care Quality Commission, (2024). Dental mythbuster 35: Medicines management in dental practices. (Online) Available at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/dentists/dental-mythbuster-35-medicines-management-dental-practices [Accessed June 2025]
