Clinical-waste collection services

Description

UK Biocentre’s laboratories in Milton Keynes are being used to analyse swab samples to support the national effort against the Coronavirus pandemic. They are one of the three Lighthouse Labs — the biggest network of diagnostic testing facilities our country has ever seen. Operations have expanded rapidly to analyse swab samples to determine whether Covid-19 is present. We have repurposed existing laboratories and built new ones to provide the capacity required for such a significant undertaking. As a by-product of the increased testing, the amount of clinical waste generated at UK Biocentre has increased, and the existing contract in place does not support the volumes required by the Covid-19 testing. This tender is being run to manage clinical waste generated through Covid-19 testing only. UK Biocentre estimates it is currently producing 10 tonnes of clinical waste per week, and expects this to rise on a gradual basis to approximately 20 tonnes per week by the end of August 2020. The clinical waste that will require removal initially are: — 96-well 0.5 ml plates; — ‘Centrefeed’ paper towel; — disposable labcoats; — disposable nitrile gloves; — pipette tips – 10 uL, 20 uL, 200 uL, 1 000 uL, 5 000 uL; — plastic outer swab transport tube 100 mm x 13 ml diameter; — clear plastic sample transport bag; — sample transport outer bag; — sample swab; — sample tube 80 ml x 10 ml diameter. UK Biocentre is currently developing a service to carry out Covid-19 serology testing. If this project goes ahead an additional 20 000 to 50 000 tests per day will be carried out once the project has fully ramped up, which equates to approximately an additional 15 tonnes of waste per week. The clinical waste collection and disposal service may need to be flexible to support this study, if the project goes ahead, in addition to the Lighthouse Covid-19 testing. The clinical waste created by this project will be similar, but may be different, as the exact testing procedure has not yet been finalised.