Needles and Sharps

Alternative ways to recycle
Illegal in Garbage & Drains
Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste Collection 
Needles and sharps need special handling to avoid toxic exposure for waste workers, the community, and the environment. As part of Senate Bill (SB) 212, residents can dispose of their pharmaceutical and home-generated sharps waste safely and conveniently at no additional cost. Visit Med-Project.org or SafeMedicineDrop.com for the nearest authorized collection site or to request mail-back services.

City Specific Disposal Options
Please check with your city page (residential or commercial) to confirm if additional options are available, such as home collection, drop-off locations, and/or events. (These options vary per city.)

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Drop-Off
Your city or county may offer HHW drop-off sites and collection events.
– Los Angeles County: S.A.F.E. Collection Centers and events
– Riverside County
– San Bernardino County
– Ventura County 

Disposal Options For Businesses
Hazardous waste cannot be placed in your containers. Schedule a Special Waste Collection by emailing [email protected] or calling Athens’ Customer Service Department at 888-336-6100. Fees may apply.

Some HHW drop-off centers may allow drop off by small business generators (check links above).

Businesses that can legally accept medications can request on-site safe disposable bins and sharps mail-back packages for customers by visiting Med-Project.org or SafeMedicineDrop.com.

needle-caps

Do Not Recap

To avoid injuring yourself from needle pricks, do not put needle caps back on needles.

Never Throw Away

Do not throw needles or sharps in the trash. They put sanitation workers, friends and family at risk of needle pricks, which can cause infection and injury.

sharps-container

Use Only Sharps Containers for Disposal

To dispose of needles and sharps, place them in sharps containers and bring them to a designated sharps disposal facility.

lancet

What Is Considered a Sharp?

All of the following must be disposed of as sharps waste: hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets and other devices that are used to break the skin of people and animals.

Alternative Ways to Recycle

Mail-Back Programs for Injectable Pharmaceuticals

Mail used sharps and pens back to the manufacturer of injectable pharmaceuticals. The following manufacturers accept sharps waste generated from their products: Enbrel® (Amgen)Neulasta® (Amgen)Novo NordiskOrencia® (Bristol-Myers) and Simponi® (Janssen Biotech, Inc.).

stericycle-logo

Stericycle® Mail Service for Home Sharps

Stericycle runs a sharps container mail-back service for small quantity generators of waste. They include bar-coded waste shipping containers, prepaid and pre-addressed shipping labels and prepaid disposal and tracking. Visit Stericycle’s Mail Back Solutions page here.

MedPro

MedPro Mail-Back Disposal

MedPro offers various sizes of mail-back sharps disposal systems, starting with 1.2 gallon containers. All containers are mailed to recipients via USPS with a prepaid return slip and proof of destruction manifest. Visit MedPro’s sharps disposal page here.

GRP Mail-Back Sharps Container

GRP and Associates offer a mail-back sharps disposal service. They will mail you a sharps container, which you package and mail-back to them. Visit their page on sharps mail back here.

Ways to Reduce

unopened-sharps

Return Unused Sharps to a Needle Exchange Program

Instead of dropping off unopened sharps at a disposal facility, consider taking them to a needle exchange program, such as MedShare. Find the nearest program.

Did You Know?

How Sharps Affect Sanitation Workers

Disposing of sharps isn’t always convenient. At the same time, sharps in the trash and recycling pose a huge health risk to sanitation workers. If workers come across a needle hidden in trash, they can get struck and have to wait up to a year to know if they’ve contracted a blood-borne virus, such as hepatitis, tetanus, HIV/AIDS or syphilis.