Florida Biomedical Waste Program

 

Needles, needle pens, and lancets should go into a sharps container immediately after use. Keep the sharps containers away from children. Florida Biomedical Waste Program  Medical supply retailers sell sharps containers. They are typically hard, thick plastic, and are constructed to be difficult to open (child and pet safe). If you are going to produce sharps waste regularly, it is worth buying a container. Households have more latitude than professional facilities. If you generate sharps at home and do not have a sharps container, you can make one from an old plastic detergent bottle, or a metal coffee container. Label it “SHARPS”. Do not use a cardboard carton or a container of thinner plastic, and try not to use a transparent container. When the sharps container is full, you may be able to put it in the regular trash. Put the sealed container into the center of a full, preferably dark trash bag and throw it out with the regular trash. Never put any type of sharp container in the recycle bin. To ensure nobody harms themselves, authorities recommend positioning the sharps container underneath other trash. You might have a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office nearby willing to take sharps waste.