The decision has been taken due to the unprecedented threat to Public Health posed by the outbreak of COVID-19.

Government has directed all secondary schools to conduct lateral flow testing for pupils and teachers upon their return to school in January 2021.

Waste from these tests has been classified as ‘healthcare’ waste which must be collected and disposed of as prescribed by the Department of Health and Social Care Clinical Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Mass Testing with Lateral Flow Antigen Testing Devices in Schools and Colleges version 2.2. This prescribes that the waste has to be collected separately from normal general rubbish.

Schools are advised to contact their existing waste collection provider for a collection service. Herefordshire Council provide a general waste collection service to the majority of schools.

A clinical waste collection service is currently only provided to households across the county but our collection contractor have the specialist vehicle required to transport ‘healthcare’ waste safely between schools and a disposal point.

Our Energy from Waste facility has received approval from the Environment Agency to accept specified non-hazardous healthcare waste associated with LFT under Regulatory Position Statement C23.

The collection cost for the service is outlined in the existing bill of quantities under the Waste Collection Contract.

The disposal cost of the healthcare waste will be charged through the existing cost of contract waste under the Waste Management Service Contract.

The councils charging principle seeks to achieve full cost recovery for delivering services where it is appropriate to do so, unless there are conflicting policies, legal or contractual reasons not to do so. The cost charged to schools for this service therefore incorporates both the collection and disposal costs which the council will incur from its contractors.

The cost charged by the council to schools for this service will be £6.78 per sack collected with an additional one off cost of £20.28 for delivering the first sacks directly to the school.