Needle Disposal

[Anonymous]

We've accumulated quite the collection of Sharps containers while TTC. The ones we got from the mail-order pharmacy that Aetna made us use had some helpful advice like, "Contact the EPA to find out how to dispose of this." Can anyone provide suggestions? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

After confirming this course of action with a pharmacy and the local dump in MoCo (which wouldn't accept the Sharps even at the haz-mat collection site), here's what we did:

pour some bleach into the Sharps container, then duct-tape the whole top of it so that it can't possibly be opened, then put in your regular trash.

[Anonymous]

I just take mine with me to my clinic and they give me a new container and dispose of the old one for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just take mine with me to my clinic and they give me a new container and dispose of the old one for me.

Ditto

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Thanks, 14:08.

This MD document:
http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/envirothon.pdf (search for 'sharps')
confirms that it's OK to throw them in the trash, properly wrapped, but I guess the laws vary by state.

[Anonymous]

My clinic takes them also.

[Anonymous]

Hummm...I just gave them to my RE...and then, after I was released to my OB, they too took a sharps container for me.

I would certainly take the easy way out if I could...

[Anonymous]

OP, wasn't the whole contact the EPA bit about disposing of the styrofoam cooler container they send you the meds in?

That's how I read it when AETNA sent it to me. I've got two of them now that i need to dispose of...great!

[Anonymous]

I just dropped two Sharps containers off at SG last week. They took them with no problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, wasn't the whole contact the EPA bit about disposing of the styrofoam cooler container they send you the meds in?

No, the meds did not come in a Styrofoam cooler container.