The City of Phoenix needs your help to keep our community safe! The City of Phoenix Office of Public Health and the Public Works Department are partnering in promoting safe methods for medical waste and sharps disposal to reduce the risk of injury to staff and residents. Learn more about proper sharps disposal below.
Medical Sharps Disposal
The City of Phoenix serves 1.8 million people, and collects trash and recycling from more than 410,000 households. When improperly disposed of medical sharps get into the recycling stream, it results in health and safety risks for all and affects the operations and efficiency of machinery within our Materials Recovery Facilities where recyclables are sorted. Medical sharps should never be recycled. They can be disposed of easily in the regular trash as long as you follow some simple guidelines.
What are Medical Sharps?
Medical sharps are essentially any device or implement used to cut or puncture the skin in animal and human patient care or medical research. This includes hypodermic needles, syringes, lancets, pipettes, scalpel blades, blood vials, needles attached to tubing, broken and unbroken glassware, and slides and coverslips. Certain conditions like diabetes, allergies, and infetility require the use of medical sharps. They are utilized by people in our communtiy every single day for their health needs. This is why it is so important that these medical sharps are disposed of propoerly.
How to Properly Dispose of Medical Sharps:
- Place your sharps in a non-puncturable container. This can be anything from an empty laundry detergent jug to a jar of peanut butter.
- Seal the container when it is 90% full using tape. Make sure the container is not too full or it could unintentionally open.
- Throw your sealed container into your regular trash - it is that easy! Remember never recycle medical sharps.
Additional Safety Recommendations
- Store your sharps container in a safe place where it does not need to be moved often to protect children, pets, and guests.
- Do not use a glass container.
- Never put loose needles or medical sharps in any sort of recycling container or bin.
- Never attempt to flush needles or syringes down the toilet.
