Household Sharps and Needle Disposal

Have used needles, syringes or other medical sharps at home? Do not put loose sharps in your recycling or trash.

In Wisconsin, it is illegal to put needles and other sharp medical items in the trash, recycling or medication collection drop boxes.

Proper disposal helps prevent injuries to family members, sanitation workers, recycling workers and others in the community.

Outagamie County Public Health can help you find a safe way to dispose of household sharps.

Need to know where to dispose of your sharps?

Find a disposal location and learn how to safely store and transport your sharps below.

Sharps Disposal Locations in Outagamie County

Before you go: Call the location to confirm it is currently accepting household sharps.

Are There Other Options to Dispose of Sharps?

• Contact your doctor, clinic or local hospital. Many healthcare facilities accept sharps but are not required to register and therefore may not appear on the list of registered sharps collection stations.
• Take your sharps to a registered sharps collection station.
• Call a local pharmacy, hospital, diabetes educator, public health department, or solid waste or streets department about local options.
• For small quantities (50 pounds and under), you may transport the sharps to an infectious waste treatment facility. If you do transport sharps, use a proper container and put the container in the trunk or another enclosed part of your vehicle.
• Use a "mail-back" sharps program, which can be found by searching the internet. The company should provide containers and packaging which meet U.S. postal regulations.

How Much Does it Cost to Dispose of Household Sharps?

Many sharps collection stations accept sharps for free. Others may charge some or all users a small fee, which by law must be "not-for-profit" and "cost only." Some stations only accept containers previously bought at that station. Call ahead to be sure.

What Are Household Sharps?

Household sharps are devices with a sharp point or edge that can puncture or cut skin. Examples include:

• Needles
• Syringes
• Lancets
• Pen needles
• Insulin needles
• Auto-injectors
• Other medical devices with needles or sharp components

How to Store Sharps at Home

Until you can dispose of your sharps:

• Place used sharps in an appropriate sharps container.
• Keep the container out of reach of children and pets.
• Keep the container upright and securely closed.
• Follow the disposal location's instructions for what type of container is accepted. 

Never:

• Put loose needles in the trash.
• Put needles or syringes in recycling.
• Leave needles where children or pets can reach them.
• Put your hands into a container to retrieve a sharp.
• Bend, break or manipulate a used needle unnecessarily.

What Should I Put Used Sharps In?

Use a container that is specifically designed and approved for sharps disposal whenever possible.

Do not put loose sharps directly into your trash or recycling.

Check with the sharps disposal site for specific instructions on the type of container you can use.

Various acceptable sharps containers can be purchased or found at home.

• Appropriate bottles at home should be rigid and puncture-resistant with a secure lid or cap such as laundry detergent or bleach bottles with screw tops.
• Do not use coffee cans, plastic milk jugs, plastic bags, soda cans, or soda bottles. (Do not add bleach to the container).
• Clearly label the sharps container with the words "bio-hazard", "infection waste" or "sharps". It is also acceptable to label detergent or bleach bottles with the words "Do Not Recycle" so it is not accidentally included with recyclables.
• You can also print this label(PDF, 75KB) and tape it to your collection container.
• When the container is almost full, seal it and take it to a sharps disposal site.

What Should I Do if I Find a Needle or Sharp Somewhere?

If you find a discarded needle, syringe or sharps do not pick it up with your bare hands.

Safety first!

Do not rely on gloves as needles easily pierce standard gloves. If available, use a mechanical reaching tool, tongs or pincher and place the item directly into a biohazards/sharps container. 

What are the Public Health Risks of Sharps?

Medical sharps are often found in household garbage, recyclables or are flushed down the toilet. When these needles end up in the waste stream, they can injure waste haulers, landfill operators and recycling facility workers. When they are flushed down toilets, they may cause problems in plumbing and wastewater treatment plants or may end up on beaches, causing a potential health risk to humans and animals.

All needle stick injuries demand expensive testing, may cause long-term emotional stress and increase the risk of exposure to such infectious diseases as Hepatitis B and HIV from contaminated needles. Costs for a typical needle stick can run upwards of thousands of dollars.

To reduce public health risks, Wisconsin rules require all citizens to manage sharps safely. It is illegal to put sharps in the trash or with recyclables. Sharps must be packaged safely and treated either at a licensed medical waste incinerator or by methods that render the sharps non-infectious, broken and unable to be reused. It is not legal to merely solidify sharps.

• Protect Yourself, Protect Your Community: Safe Options for Household Sharps Disposal [PDF]
  • Spanish Translation [PDF]
  • Hmong Translation [PDF]

Have unused or expired medications instead? Learn how to safely dispose of medications and find locations on our medication disposal page. 

Need Help?

Call Outagamie County Public Health

Back to top