Dispose of Needles and Sharps Right

Check with your health care provider or health care facility to see if they have a take-back program for needles. If not, used needles and syringes from self-injections may be placed in the regular trash if certain precautions are followed. The precautions are designed to protect sanitation workers and other workers in the waste industry from being stuck by a needle.

  • Place used needles and syringes in a rigid plastic container with a sealable lid such as a Sharps container or a plastic laundry detergent bottle with a screw top.
  • Seal the lid with tape.
  • Write "Caution: Sharps" on the container.
  • Place the container in your regular trash.
  • Do not place the container in with your recyclables.
  • Consider using a mail-back program from Waste Management or Republic Services

See more at SafeNeedleDisposal.org or read the Ohio EPA's guidance document for Disposal of Household Generated Sharps.

Learn how to dispose of medications. 

 

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