Guide
Feminine hygiene bin service: the law, the bins and the price
Updated
A feminine hygiene bin service supplies, empties and cleans the sanitary bins in toilets used by women and carries the waste away as offensive waste. Employers must provide suitable sanitary conveniences, and HSE's code says suitable includes a way to dispose of sanitary dressings; the firms that publish a price charge £65 to £139.20 a bin a year.
What the law asks of an employer
Regulation 20 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 says suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences shall be provided at readily accessible places. HSE's Approved Code of Practice, L24, says what suitable means, and that toilets used by women should have a means of disposing of sanitary dressings. A serviced bin in each cubicle is how most workplaces meet it.
How the waste is classed
Sanitary protection and nappies from a workplace are municipal offensive waste, code 20 01 99, which is non-hazardous (gov.uk, healthcare and related wastes). It must go to a firm that is allowed to carry it, and the producer keeps a waste transfer note for 2 years (gov.uk, waste transfer notes). In Scotland and Northern Ireland NetRegs sets out the same duty and the same two years.
What it costs
The four firms that publish a price on their own page charge £65 to £139.20 a bin a year, median £82.45, read on 27 October 2026 (every row, with its source). A monthly collection is what the cheapest prices are built on; a fortnightly or weekly cycle costs more.
Choosing a service
- Check the firm on the public register of waste carriers.
- Ask for the price per bin per year with VAT stated.
- Ask what the waste transfer note costs, if anything.
- Ask whether pedal, no-touch or slim bins are available for small cubicles.