Dental waste disposal glossary
Plain-English explanations of the terms you will come across.
- Alternative treatment
- Non-incineration methods for treating infectious waste, such as autoclaving or other heat treatment, used for orange-bag waste. It is not suitable for waste contaminated with medicines or amalgam.
- Amalgam separator
- A device fitted to the dental suction and waste water system that captures amalgam particles before they reach the drain. Separators in use must retain at least 95 percent of amalgam.
- Denaturing kit
- A container with a substance that makes controlled drugs irretrievable before they are placed in pharmaceutical waste, used to meet controlled drugs disposal requirements.
- Digital waste tracking
- The UK system for recording waste movements online, mandatory for waste receiving sites in England and Wales from 1 October 2026, with further phases planned. Paper notes are still required for now.
- Duty of Care
- The legal duty under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for anyone producing waste to store it safely, describe it accurately and pass it only to an authorised person with the right paperwork.
- Fixer and developer
- The two chemicals used in wet film X-ray processing. Both are hazardous waste and must be kept in separate sealed containers; fixer contains silver that can be recovered.
- Hazardous waste consignment note
- The document that must accompany each movement of hazardous waste in England and Wales, recording the producer, waste description, codes, quantity, carrier and destination. Producers keep it for at least three years.
- HTM 07-01
- Health Technical Memorandum 07-01, the Department of Health guidance on safe and sustainable management of healthcare waste in England. It sets out classification, colour coding, storage and pre-acceptance audits used across dental practices.
- Infectious waste
- Healthcare waste with a known or suspected risk of infection, or heavily contaminated with blood or body fluids. It is usually collected in orange or yellow bags for treatment or incineration.
- List of Wastes code
- A six-digit code describing a waste type, also called an EWC code. An asterisk marks hazardous waste, for example 18 01 10* for dental amalgam waste.
- Medicinally contaminated sharps
- Sharps containing or used with medicines, such as part-used local anaesthetic cartridges. They go in yellow-lidded containers so they are incinerated.
- Offensive waste
- Non-infectious waste from healthcare that may be unpleasant, such as gloves, bibs, masks and aprons from routine treatment. It goes in yellow-and-black tiger bags and is cheaper to treat than infectious waste.
- Pre-acceptance audit
- A periodic review of how a healthcare producer segregates, stores and describes its clinical waste, required by treatment sites. For most dental practices the minimum frequency is every two years.
- Registered waste carrier
- A business registered with the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or NIEA to transport waste. Practices should check the public register before handing over waste.
- Waste transfer note
- The document recording the transfer of non-hazardous waste, such as offensive tiger-bag waste, from producer to carrier. It must be kept for at least two years and can cover repeat collections for up to a year.
Last updated 6 November 2026