FAQs - Recycling and waste

Hygiene waste includes items used to dispose of human urine, faeces and other bodily secretions or excretions. Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP) are items used to absorb bodily fluids and wastes. Wherever possible, any items should be emptied, before being bagged.

This includes:

• Disposable bed pans & liners, incontinence pads, bed and chair pads
• Colostomy/stoma bags, catheter bags and urine bottles
• Plastic gloves & disposable aprons
• Nappies including any bags & wipes
• Feeding tubes

It does not include:

• Sanitary products
• Pet waste
• Clinical waste *

* If you need to dispose of clinical waste please call Hywel Dda on 01267 227641 or email: Environment.team@wales.nhs.uk. Clinical waste must never be placed in household waste bags.

Clinical waste includes the following types of waste:

Identifiable human tissue

Blood

Soiled surgical dressings, swabs and other similar soiled waste

Discarded syringe needles

Drugs or other pharmaceutical products

Clinical waste cannot be placed into black or purple bags and must be collected by Hywel Dda University Health Board.

If you need a clinical waste collection, please call Hywel Dda on 01267 227641 or email: Environment.team@wales.nhs.uk.

You can apply online for our free hygiene/nappy collection service for either yourself or a member of your family.

Once we've received your application your purple bags will be delivered within 10 working days. If you’re applying on behalf of someone else the bags will be delivered to their home.

We will collect your bags every fortnight, you will be allocated a collection day and a calendar to show you which weeks to put your bags out. Collections take place between 7am and 3pm so you need to put your bags out before 7am.

If you require both hygiene and nappy waste collections, you will need to make two separate applications.

You cannot apply if you run a nursery or are a child minder as this is classed as commercial waste.

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Yes, you can apply online for our free hygiene/nappy collection service. It doesn’t matter how many nappies you use; please use our nappy collection service it will mean less waste going into landfill.

Once we've received your application your purple bags will be delivered within 10 working days. We will collect your bags every fortnight, you will be allocated a collection day and a calendar to show you which weeks to put your bags out.

You will not automatically receive a hygiene / nappy collection, you must apply.

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No.  Their parent/guardian should apply to have a collection from their home address. They can provide you with a purple bag to place any nappies in when they stay with you. You can then give this back for them to place out for collection at their own property. 

No, as this would be classed as commercial waste. 

What can I put in my purple bag?

You can put the following items in your purple bag:

Disposable bed pans & liners, incontinence pads, bed and chair pads

Colostomy/stoma bags, catheter bags and urine bottles

Plastic gloves & disposable aprons

Nappies including any bags & wipes

Feeding tubes

Wherever possible, any items should be emptied, before being bagged.
Do NOT put these items in your purple bag:

Sanitary products

Pet waste

Clinical waste*

Sanitary products, or pet waste should be double bagged and go in your black bags.

* If you need to dispose of clinical waste, please call Hywel Dda on 01267 227641 or email: Environment.team@wales.nhs.uk Clinical waste must never be placed in household waste bag.

Please put them out for collection in the same place you would leave your blue or black bags*. We will not collect bags from wheeled bins however you can place them in a smaller dustbin. Make sure the waste is bagged and tied. 

*If you use a shared bin area, we will be in touch to let you know where to leave your purple bags.

Please only use the purple bags provided, wheeled bins are not provided for children's nappy waste. You can put your bags into a dustbin (not wheeled bins) and place them out for collection. Make sure the waste is bagged and tied. 

We do not collect from privately-owned wheeled bins; your waste will be left uncollected, and you will have to remove it from the bin before we attempt to collect again.

We will send you a pack of purple bags when you apply for the service. You can request more bags online. It can take up to 10 working days for delivery so please order them in plenty of time.

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There is no limit to the number of purple bags you put out for your hygiene and nappy waste collection.

No, if you have any kind of hygiene waste you will need to apply for our free hygiene/nappy waste collections. It’s quick and easy to apply. Once we've received your application your purple bags will be delivered within 10 working days.

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Collections take place between 6am and 2pm so you need to put your bags out before 6am and wait until after 2pm before reporting it to us.

Before you report it, check you have the correct collection day. If you haven’t put any bags out for 3 collections in a row, we will contact you to see if you still require the service.

Please tell us about any changes to your requirements, this can include taking a short break from the service.

Once you’ve reported a missed collection, please leave the waste out and we will call back as soon as we can.

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If you haven’t put any bags out for 3  collections in a row, we will contact you to see if you still require the service. Please tell us about any changes to your requirements, this can include taking a short break from the service.

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If you’re moving to a new house within Carmarthenshire, fill in our online form and we will arrange to collect your purple bags from your new address.

If you’re moving outside of the county, please let us know before you move so that we can cancel your collections.

Tell us about a change

You can cancel the service at any time or take a temporary break if you don’t need the service for a few weeks.

Cancel hygiene collection

By providing separate collections, we are able to divert this type of waste from landfill, and it will also help to increase our recycling rates.
We have achieved our previous targets, but more needs to be done if we are to meet Welsh Government’s 70% recycling target by 2025.

it is estimated that there is in excess of 1 million tonnes of absorbent hygiene products disposed of annually in the UK and Capel Hendre-based Natural UK has developed a process to recover the plastics and cellulose material that would previously have been sent to landfill.

The recovery process cleans and separates the plastics and cellulose fibres for re-use; the cellulose fibres being used for a variety of commercial purposes, including the production of fibre boards and acoustic panelling, and the plastics sent to secondary re-processors for recycling. A trial scheme is also underway where the cellulose fibres are being used to resurface roads.

You can sign up to receive email or text message reminders for your collection days. 

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If you or someone you know struggle to put their waste and recycling out for collection, we may be able to help with an assisted waste collection closer to their property.

An application is required and an assessment of the property before the service can be provided.

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Please check and follow the advice on our missed collections page, before reporting that your waste has been left behind.

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