Official Statistics

PPE disposals, donations and sales, up to 28 February 2023 (England)

Published 30 March 2023

Applies to England

These statistics show the quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE), purchased by the government for use by health and social care services during the COVID-19 pandemic, that have now been sent for disposal, donated or sold. The quantities are expressed both as number of storage pallets and number of items of PPE.

These published statistics provide an update on the process and policy to manage excess PPE stock. The figures provide a summary for ministers, policymakers, external stakeholders and the public and they are based directly on management information maintained by the COVID-19 PPE programme.

This is a single ad hoc publication. Operational responsibility for the data contained will transfer from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to NHS Supply Chain from April 2023.

Main points

In total, up to 28 February 2023, 269,500 pallets of PPE have been removed from stock. This equates to 3.14 billion items removed through a mixture of recycling, energy from waste (EFW) processes, donations and sales. (Energy from waste includes a small volume of material disposed of through waste incineration.)

Up to 28 February 2023 DHSC disposed of 251,500 pallets of PPE through recycling and energy from waste as part of its excess stock management process. This equates to 2.87 billion items of PPE. Of these disposals, 119,600 pallets were recycled (1.47 billion items) and 131,900 pallets were sent through EFW processes (1.40 billion items).

Up to 31 December 2022 DHSC donated 6,100 pallets of PPE, both internationally (for example to Brazil and Pakistan) and domestically for events such as to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This equates to 108 million items of PPE in total.

The donations figures presented here focus on donations made as part of the excess stock management process. This does not include donations made earlier in the pandemic to other public services such as schools and transport operators. These donations were not part of the excess stock management programme.

Up to 28 February 2023 DHSC sold 11,900 pallets of PPE though e-auctions. This equates to 161 million items of PPE.

PPE disposals, donations and sales

The COVID-19 PPE programme purchased PPE during the pandemic for use in health and social care settings, in line with the requirements of a reasonable worst-case scenario, in line with COVID models.

The department now holds more PPE than is required for the remaining stages of the COVID pandemic. This includes items that are not considered suitable for supply to frontline services in the NHS and other items that are surplus to requirements, or where the product is likely to reach its expiry date before being used. To make best use of public money, the department started a policy to reduce the amount of excess stock it holds.

These stocks were primarily acquired to meet the needs of frontline health and social care services in England. In the first few months of the pandemic domestic donations of PPE were also made to schools, prisons and transport operators as well as other public bodies. These donations were prior to the excess stock management programme and are not in scope of this publication.

Table 1: number of PPE pallets sent for disposal, donated or sold, up to 28 February 2023, England

PPE item	Disposals: recycling	Disposals: EFW	Donations	Sales	Total (pallets)
Aprons	17,612	7,749	168	144	25,673
Body bags	0	0	6	0	6
Clinical waste bags	741	0	0	0	741
Coveralls	0	5,593	714	120	6,427
Eye protectors	75,757	82,781	915	336	159,789
Face mask FFP2	0	233	0	0	233
Face mask FFP3	0	6,351	60	96	6,507
Face mask II	0	1,776	3	1,079	2,858
Face mask IIR	0	9,363	2,307	0	11,670
Face masks, other	0	605	370	0	975
Fit testing	0	0	20	0	20
Gloves	0	4	369	503	876
Gowns	23,696	5,829	518	9,367	39,410
Hand hygiene	712	10,980	671	208	12,571
Unknown	1,096	640	0	0	1,736
Total	119,614	131,903	6,121	11,853	269,491

Table 2: number of PPE items sent for disposal, donated or sold, up to 28 February 2023, England (millions)

PPE item	Disposals: recycling	Disposals: EFW	Donations	Sales	Total
Aprons	1,137.4	571.2	9.7	8.1	1,726.3
Body bags	0	0	low	0	low
Clinical waste bags	14.0	0	0	0	14.0
Coveralls	0	4.7	0.4	0.1	5.2
Eye protectors	166.9	361.6	1.9	0.5	530.9
Face mask FFP2	0	3.2	0	0	3.2
Face mask FFP3	0	27.9	0.4	0.3	28.7
Face mask II	0	92.8	0.1	51.8	144.7
Face mask IIR	0	317.2	68.5	0	385.7
Face masks, other	0	12.9	3.0	0	15.9
Fit testing	0	0	low	0	low
Gloves	0	0.4	20.2	41.1	61.7
Gowns	149.2	4.5	3.5	59.0	216.4
Hand hygiene	0.5	8.3	0.7	0.2	9.6
Unknown	x	x	0	0	x
Total	1,468.0	1,404.8	108.4	161.2	3,142.4

Notes:

• x signifies that the volume is unknown. This relates to pallets containing mixed items, for example, damages or containers where the item type is not identified in the data

• low signifies a number that is more than zero but rounds to zero in this table

Measuring the data

How the data was collected

The data was collated from management information compiled and used by the government’s COVID-19 PPE programme. Management information is updated on an ongoing basis by partner organisations involved in managing excess PPE stock and it reflects actual movements of stock that has been sent for disposal, or to be donated or sold.

Operational processes tend to rely, in almost all instances, on a count of pallets removed from stock. Some additional data checks and validation have been applied to provide a count of actual items of PPE removed from inventory. This calculation uses actual data on number of items where available, and in some cases estimates the number of items by applying an average units per pallet ratio to the pallet numbers for each product code.

Counts of units or items reflect the conventions used in these management information sources. Gloves are counted individually, not in pairs. Hand hygiene items are reported in units, rather than litres.

To ensure that information is reported on a consistent and time-stamped basis, this publication excludes all disposals, donations or sales taking place after 28 February 2023. It therefore provides a validated and final position up to that date.

Coverage

The data covers PPE that was purchased for use in health and social care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. These figures show items from that source that have been sent for disposal, donated or sold.

The data relates to different categories of PPE purchased as part of the COVID-19 PPE programme.

Quality

These statistics have been compiled using management information from the COVID-19 PPE programme, drawing on expertise from DHSC and NHS Supply Chain.

More information on quality and how this publication adheres to the Code of Practice for Statistics is available in the statement of compliance.

Future development

These statistics have been compiled using management information that is updated regularly. Operational responsibility for the data will transfer from DHSC to NHS Supply Chain from April 2023.

Experimental statistics

Given the commitment of DHSC to be open and transparent with the public it serves, this data is being released as experimental statistics. DHSC has received requests for data on the distribution of PPE, such as Parliamentary questions, freedom of information requests and other queries.

These experimental statistics are undergoing continual evaluation and development. These figures have not been used for statistical purposes before.

Find out more about experimental statistics from the Governmental Statistics Service (GSS).

For feedback and questions about the release, please contact statistics@dhsc.gov.uk.