Politics
Morrisons first supermarket to install male sanitary bins across all UK stores
Morrisons has announced the nationwide installation of male sanitary bins in customer toilets across all its stores. It becomes the first supermarket to meet ‘The Bog Standard’ guidelines. And this follows the chain’s installation of stoma-friendly facilities earlier in 2026.
A hallmark of good practice, ‘The Bog Standard’ is a set of guidelines designed by phs Group and Prostate Cancer UK. They aim to educate organisations on providing essential support for men with incontinence, including many who have undergone life-saving prostate cancer treatment.
Sanitary bins for men make shopping more accessible
Morrisons embarked on the rollout following customer feedback, alongside its broader commitment to continuously improving accessibility and inclusive facilities for all customers.
It follows the retailer’s recent introduction of stoma-friendly toilets across all its supermarkets in March 2026, and new NHS messaging on its own-brand bath and shower products to help more people spot possible cancer symptoms earlier – both supermarket firsts.
In 2025, Morrisons also introduced Sensory Support Boxes in all stores to improve the shopping experience for autistic people, carefully developed in consultation with the National Autistic Society.
One in eight men will get prostate cancer, and your risk doubles to one in four if you’re Black, but it can be curable if found early. As many as 60% of Men who have a radical prostatectomy [surgical removal of the whole prostate and the prostate cancer cells inside it] may experience urinary incontinence. But suitable disposal facilities in public male toilets remain limited.
This lack of sanitary bins for men is causing men to miss out on life’s everyday activities, and phs Group research shows more than a third of men (34%) said that they no longer do their grocery shopping as a result.
By introducing specially designed sanitary bins in all supermarkets, Morrisons now meets ‘The Bog Standard’ guidelines. The initiative builds on the broader ‘Dispose with Dignity’ campaign, also by phs Group in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK. This aims to improve access to sanitary disposal facilities for men living with incontinence.
David Scott, corporate affairs director at Morrisons, said:
We are proud to be the first supermarket to meet The Bog Standard guidelines in every one of our stores. By listening to our customers and working closely with both organisations, we recognise the challenges many men face when living with incontinence.
Providing appropriate facilities across all Morrisons stores is an important step in helping customers feel more confident and supported when out and about, while also improving access to suitable facilities nationwide.
Nick Ridgman, head of support services at Prostate Cancer UK, said:
Many men need sanitary bins so they can dispose of their used pads discreetly and hygienically – but often these bins are nowhere to be found in men’s loos. It’s causing men stress and shame and keeping them from going out, heading to work or even doing the things they love.
Morrisons is making its stores more welcoming and accessible for every employee/customer and hope other companies will follow. We wholeheartedly support the Dispose with Dignity initiative and hope to see the UK government supporting our call to change HSE guidance.
This is the only way we can ensure men will have access to a male sanitary bin if they’re using toilets in public spaces.
Matthew Brabin, CEO of phs Group, said:
We developed our male incontinence bins at the request of men who have experienced prostate cancer, and we are proud to be the only organisation to develop sanitary bins for men, in consultation with Prostate Cancer UK supporters.
We thank Morrisons for leading the way in its sector by installing bins in every supermarket across the UK, and we hope other household names will follow to support men living with incontinence.
It is unfair that men miss out on everyday activities because a simple sanitary bin is not available in a toilet cubicle. That is what we set out to change, and that is what Morrisons is changing today.
Featured image via Getty Images
By The Canary
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