Bag labelled ‘medical waste - do not incinerate’ found in Drumahoe

A concerned resident told the Sentinel he was walking his dog on the Fincairn Road at approximately 4pm on Friday (May 24) when he encountered several bags of rubbish on the side of the road.

The man - who asked not to be named - said he believed the rubbish may have fallen off the back of a skip lorry, many of which use the route on a regular basis.

He said one of the bags was labelled ‘medical waste - do not incinerate’ and that it smelled noxious.

However, after ringing Altnagelvin on Friday the waste was removed by the time he returned to the scene the next morning.

A spokesperson for the Trust told the Sentinel that despite the labelling, no medical waste was involved.

The Trust has also asked the external contractor responsible for the waste to carry out an investigation and file a report.

“The Trust became aware that a small amount of bagged waste had been found on the Fincairn Road on Friday (May 24) after a member of the public contacted the Trust.

“The external contractor who was managing the collection, transport and removal of this waste was contacted and the Trust recovered the waste immediately.

“It is important to note that none of the waste found was ‘medical or hospital’ waste but was classified as normal waste, which would include such items as paper towels, paper cups, kitchen rolls and hand towels,” a spokesperson said.

Nonetheless the Trust said it took such matters seriously.

“The Trust takes this matter extremely seriously and expects all external contractors who provide waste collection and disposal services to comply with their exacting high contract standards.

“The Trust has contacted the external contractor involved and has requested the investigation of this occurrence and a full reprot to the Trust on all remedial action, which will be taken to prevent any reoccurence,” a spokesperson said.