Clinical & Healthcare Waste
Redefining the future beyond single-useA waste partner trusted by world-leading brands
MYGroup is revolutionising healthcare and clinical waste management, providing an end-to-end solution for processing, recycling and remanufacturing single-use equipment and packaging without incineration. The company’s advanced RecyClin™ system, already proven with leading UK companies and NHS providers, utilises the latest autoclave technology to process waste safely and efficiently, before it is transformed into new products and materials.
The environmental cost of care
Waste generated from hospitals and other healthcare and medical settings is one of the great recycling and public health challenges of our time, particularly the high volumes of infectious and other potentially harmful clinical waste currently incinerated due to the absence of safe alternative methods of recovery.
5kg
Each UK hospital bed accounts for 5kg of medical waste needing alternative treatment every day.
Globally, healthcare waste is said to account for over 4% of all CO2 emissions and 1-2% of all urban waste, while unmanaged medical waste is linked to the deaths of over 5 million people worldwide each year.
Dental surgeries and veterinary clinics also generate significant volumes of healthcare and clinical waste, as do a wide range of less obvious settings. These include complementary and alternative health providers, such as physiotherapists and acupuncturists, care and nursing homes, funeral services, cosmetic and beauty salons, tattoo and body modification studios, as well as general businesses and organisations in the workplace.
The NHS and wider healthcare sector face mounting pressure to cut waste and emissions, with the UK’s Net Zero target looming and the Greener NHS Programme setting the pace. The NHS Clinical Waste Strategy calls for a 50% reduction in clinical waste by 2026, while the Government’s Design for Life Roadmap seeks to drive more circular product and packaging design.
Sustainable, closed-loop waste management solutions for healthcare and clinical waste are not a nice-to-have, they’re essential.
RecyClin™: A proven system giving new life to healthcare & clinical waste
Clinical waste is processed at MYGroup’s Hull facility using the latest autoclave technology, allowing clinical and hazardous waste to be sterilised and shredded on site with zero emissions and low water consumption. The company can currently process up to 65 tons of clinical waste a week.
Collection and processing, even from the most complex settings
Through its RecyClin system, MYGroup offers a closed-loop healthcare and clinical waste management and recycling solution, managed fully in-house from collection to final resource recovery.
MYGroup provides clients with bespoke-designed collection boxes – compliant for complex or sterile environments such as operating theatres – ensuring single-use items and material can be safely segregated, wherever the waste is generated. The company then collects and transports the material back to its fully licensed RecyClin facility in Hull, East Yorkshire.
RecyClin:
How does it work?
The RecyClin advantage: Why choose MYGroup for healthcare and clinical waste?
Zero waste to incineration
Full spectrum of waste remanufactured into new materials and products
The most advanced autoclave technology in the UK, with low carbon footprint
System trusted by world-leading companies
Approved by Environment Agency
Transforming waste into raw material and new products
Clinical waste, safely broken down through the autoclave process, as well as other non-clinical healthcare waste and packaging, is sorted and directed through MYGroup’s other separation and recovery processes before reuse or remanufacturing into new materials and products by MYGroup’s ReFactory™ team.
This includes the creation of MYboard™, a material with a plywood-like consistency, wholly created from shredded, heated and pressed plastic waste. MYBoard is utilised in construction, joinery, shop and event fittings, as well as furniture for commercial and community settings, such as schools.
Using further advanced machinery and tools, the ReFactory team is also able to integrate processed waste materials from MYGroup’s wider operations into products alongside MYBoard. This includes reclaimed wood, recycled steel and cement, textiles, such as leather and foam, and even recovered paint.
Foil and metals are put through MYGroup’s owned processing and bulking facilities for scrap metal or remanufactured locally into ingots, while textile items can be washed, recovered and reused through the company’s sustainable factory process.
Every step in MYGroup’s healthcare and clinical waste solution is transparent, with data reporting available for EPR compliance or in support of ESG and CSR initiatives. The ReFactory team also works with clients and partners on closed-loop recovery projects, using the very waste recovered from a scheme for bespoke products and initiatives to fit a range of applications, from office fittings and events to customer marketing or employee activities.
Blister packs, common in healthcare settings for the distribution of medicines, are fully recyclable through MYGroup’s RecyClin service. Used or unused blister packs can be collected alongside other healthcare and clinical waste and fully recycled at MYGroup’s specialist facility. This includes the separation of plastic and foil, as well as the safe handling of any unused product remaining in packs.
Accepted Healthcare & Clinical Waste
Clinical & Infectious
- Sharps (e.g. syringes, needles, scalpels)
- Instruments & equipment (including electronics)
- Contaminated gowns, gloves & masks
- Dressings, bandages & swabs
- Lab smalls & test kits
Pharmacological & Chemical
- Expired or unused fluid & solid medicines or treatments
- Blister packs of medications & supplements (used or unused)
- Disinfectants & other cleaning agents
Packaging
- Plastic wrap, films, containers & trays
- Foil, metal & glass items
- Polystyrene & foam
- Cardboard & paper
By partnering with MYGroup, MedTech companies, NHS providers, the wider healthcare and pharma industries and other sectors producing high volumes of healthcare and clinical waste can take a decisive step towards reducing their environmental impact, while maintaining safety and efficiency.