§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidelines he has issued to the National Rivers Authority on the disposal of bodies of aborted unborn babies into the sewerage system.
§ Mr. Baldry[holding answer 5 November 1991]: Human tissue is disposed of as clinical waste. Guidance on the treatment and disposal of such waste is given in Waste Management Paper No. 25 (published 1983) which also refers to the recommendations given in the Health and Safety Commission guidance note: The Safe Disposal of Clinical Waste (1982).
162WParagraph 5.1.4 of Waste Management Paper No. 25, which is based mainly on the conclusions of the HSC guidance document, states that incineration should be the preferred disposal route for human tissues.
Advice is given on discharges to the sewers in Chapter 6. Discharges of certain other clinical wastes can be made to the sewer but only with the consent of the sewerage authority.