Household Sharps Waste Disposal

The following are some of the disposal options available to you for disposal of sharps waste:

• • Pharmacies. Some drug stores take back their customers’ needles, especially in small quantities.
  • Hospitals. Hospitals may take back sharps from patients using regular outpatient services.
  • Local Household Hazardous Waste Programs. Call your local household hazardous waste agency and ask if they collect needles (sharps) at their collection facilities or on household hazardous waste days. You can also look for this information here:
    • Your local white pages’ government section may list your city’s or county’s household hazardous waste department.
    • Visit the Earth 911.org website or call 1-800-CLEANUP (1-800-253-2687), a service of Earth 911.
    • Visit the Local Enforcement Agency Directory on this website.
  • Local Jurisdiction Sharps Collection Programs, revised August 2011. A file showing a sampling of local jurisdictions’ sharps collection programs and containing contacts, e-mail addresses, program summaries, and outreach materials. This spreadsheet could help jurisdictions that don’t currently have collection programs to set up their own sharps collection program.
  • Needle Destruction Devices. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently only lists the “Disintegrator” as a needle destruction device approved for use by self-injectors.
  • Consolidation Points. A list of home-generated sharps consolidation points located throughout California.
  • Sharps Containers. The California Department of Public Health Medical Waste Management Program is recommending the use of sharps containers approved by the FDA. After accessing the FDA website, type “sharps” in the search box. The container names will display alphabetically.