KENYA STANDARD        KS 2409 -5: 2018 
ICS 13.030.30; 13.030.40  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Health care wastes management 
commodities  
 
Part 5:  
 
Bin liners (polythene bags) -— Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
©KEBS 201 8  First Edition 201 8 
 
 
 
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT  
 KS 2409 -5: 2018 
 
ii  © KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved   
NATIONAL WORKSHOP REPRESENTATION  
 
The following organizations were represented on the National Workshop Agreement Meeting:  
 
City Council of Nairobi  
Coast Provincial General Hospital  
Nursing Council of Kenya  
Kenya Medical Supplies Agency  
Kenyatta National Hospital  
Ministry of Medical Services  
Kenya Expanded Progrmme of Immunization  
Reprentative, Rural Health Facilities  
Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation  
Government Chemist 's Department  
Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital  
Path-Kenya  
Christian Health Association of Kenya  
Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation — Office of the Chief Public Health Officer  
Ministry of Medical Services — Office of the Chief Nursing Officer  
Ministry of Medical Services — Office of the Director of Medical Services  
Kenya Medical Scientific Technical Officers Ass ociation  
Kenya Medical Res earch Institute  
Kenya Bureau of Standards  — Secretariat  
 
 
 
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed. Suggestions 
for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, 
are welcome.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 201 8 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws of Kenya, copyr ight 
subsists in all Kenya S tandards and except as provided under Section 26 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of 
Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in  writing 
from the Manag ing Director . 
 
 
 
 KENYA STANDARD         KS 2409 -5: 2018 
ICS 13.030.30; 13.030.40  
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved    iii  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Health care wastes management commodities  
 
Part 5:  
 
Bin liners (polythene bags) — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS)  
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi -00200, Tel.: (+254  020) 605490,  602350, Fax: (+254 020)  604031  
E-Mail: info@kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org   
 
Coast Region     Lake Region          Rift Valley Region  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa -80100   P.O. Box 2949, Kisumu -40100        P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru -20100  
Tel.: (+254  041) 229563,  230939/40  Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 22396        Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 210555  
Fax: (+254  041) 229448    Fax: (+254 057) 21814  
 KS 2409 -5: 2018 
 
iv  © KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved   
Foreword  
 
Foreword  
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards is a national standards bod y (NSB). The work of preparing Kenya  Standards is 
normally carried out through national  technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for 
which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. 
National  organizations, governmental and non -governmen tal, in liaison with KEBS , also take part in the 
work.  
Kenya  Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the KS ISO/IEC  Directives, Part  2. 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare National  Standards. Draft Kenya  Standards adopt ed by 
the technical committees are circulated to the technical committee member s for ballo ting. Publication as a 
Kenya  Standard requires approval by at least 2/3 of the member s casting a vote.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements  of this document may be the subject of patent 
rights. KEBS  shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This Kenya Standard  was prepared by Technical Committee KEBS /TC 136, Medical Equipment, Tools and 
Devices.  
A bin bag , swag sack  or bin liner  or garbage bag  or trash bag  is a disposable bag used to contain rubbish  or 
trash. Such bags are useful to line the insides of waste containers  to prevent the insides of the receptacle 
from becoming coated in waste material. Most bags these days are made out of plastic , and are typicall y 
green or black in color.  
 
Plastic bags  are a convenient and sanitary way of handling garbage, and are widely used. Plastic garbage 
bags are fairly lightweight and are particularly useful for messy or wet rubbish, as is commonly the case with 
food waste, and are also useful for wrapping up garbage to minimize odour. Plastic bags are often used for 
lining litter or waste containers or bins. This serves to keep the container sanitary b y avoiding container 
contact with the garbage. After the bag in the container is filled with litter, the bag can be pulled out by its 
edges, closed, and tied with minimal contact with the waste matter.  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 KENYA STANDARD        KS 2409 -5: 2018 
 
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved     1  
 
Health care wastes management commodities  
 
Part 5:  
 
Bin liners (polythene bags) — Specification  
 
 
1 Scope  
 
This Part 5 of this National Workshop Agreement specifies the requirements and test methods for plastic bin 
liners for use in healthcare waste management.  
 
2 Definitions  
 
For the purpose of thi s National Workshop Agreement, the defollowing definitions shall apply.  
 
2.1 
bin liners( Polythene bags)  
Plastic (polythene) bags that are used for lining the inner side of the  colour coded bins for easy removal of 
the contents in avoidance to soil the i nner part of the bin containers  
 
2.2 
micrometer  
this is the metric measurement used to describe the thikness o f polyethylene film or sheet  
 
2.3 
tensile strength  
the force required to break through the fi lm by pulling on opposite sides  
 
3 Requirements  
 
3.1 Material  
 
Bin Liners shall be made of Polyethylene or any suitable material and shall not contain PVC  
 
3.2 Physico -chemical requirements  
 
The Liners shall conform to the requirements in Table 1.  
 
 
Table 1 — Physico -chemical properties  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SL N o Test Requiremen t Test method  
i) Capacity  As appropriate (see Figure 1)  As required by the purchaser  
ii) Tensile strength  - - 
iii) Leakage  No leakage  Visual  
iv) Thickness/gauge, min. (µ)  60 Annex A  KS 2409 -5: 2018 
 
2  © KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved   
 
 
Figure 1 — How to measure the bin liner  
 
 
3.3 Colour and me anings  
 
The Bin liners shall be in three(3) colors marked as Black, Yellow and Red when tested in accordance to the 
method described in annex A of this standard.  
 
a) Black Bin liners  shall be for general use  
 
b) Yellow Bin liners  shall be shall be for infe ctious wastes and shall have universal Biohazard 
symbol with the wording “ÍNFECTIOUS WASTE”(Biohazard)  
 
c) Red Bin liners  shall have the universal Biohazard symbol with the wording Anatomical/Pathological 
waste(Biomedical)  
 
4 Packaging and labe lling 
 
4.1 Packaging  
 
Bin liners shall be stacked together as agreed to between the buyer and the packed in a box  or plastic  bags 
which conform with the relevant Kenya Standard  for packaging materials . 
 
4.2 Labelling  
 
The following information shall be legibly and in delibly mar ked in English and/or K iswahili:  
 
a) the words ‘Bin liners for medical wastes’ ; 
b)  manufacturer's name and address ; 
c)  country of origin;  
d) batch number ; 
e) date of manufacture and expiry date; 
f)  materials used;  
g) gross/ net weight ; 
h)  number of packs  per carton ;