Medical Waste

Sharps Disposal

This information is for those who want to know how and where to dispose of sharps in Wisconsin. If you are interested in collecting sharps as a public service, please go to sharps collection.

More detailed information on these topics is available in the following:

The Public Health Risks of Sharps

Medical "sharps," such as needles, syringes and lancets, pose a risk of injury for anyone who may come into contact with them.

Safety First

Never put needles and other sharp medical items in the trash!

This is a concern because people in the United States use large numbers of sharps at home, work and on the road. According to the Coalition for Safe Community Needle Disposal, in one year, approximately 9 million syringe users will administer at least 3 billion injections outside of health care facilities, nationwide.

Many of these needles end up in the solid waste stream, where they can injure waste haulers, landfill operators and recycling facility workers. Some are flushed down toilets, where they may cause problems in plumbing and wastewater treatment plants. And sharps washed down storm sewers may end up on our beaches.

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

Furthermore, even the suspected presence of sharps can prevent recyclable materials from being recycled. Whole truckloads of recyclable materials may be wasted in this way.

To reduce public health risks, the DNR adopted rules in 1994 requiring everyone in Wisconsin, even individuals at home, to manage sharps safely. It is illegal to put sharps in the trash or with recyclables. (Note: other infectious waste generated at home may be bagged and put out with the regular trash. The same is true for waste glass and razors.)

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.

Correct Packaging of Household Sharps

Help reduce the risk of injury to those in your household and those who may handle your waste. Follow these four steps for packaging used sharps and discarded unused sharps at home:

Clip the needle points with needle clippers, or recap or re-sheathe discarded sharps to help prevent needlesticks. Recapping needles is prohibited in health care facilities because medical workers might stick themselves with contaminated needles, but individuals who administer their own medications are not at risk from their own needles.
Place the sharps in rigid puncture-resistant containers with secure lids or caps.
Visibly label the sharps container with the words "bio-hazard," "infectious waste" or "sharps," or with the bio-hazard emblem. If you have put sharps in a container that would otherwise be recyclable, label it "Do not recycle."
When the container is full, sealed and labeled, store it out of reach of children and dispose of it properly at a sharps collection station or using another method described in the next section.

Acceptable containers for sharps disposal include commercially available sharps containers or thick-walled plastic detergent or bleach bottles with screw caps. Unacceptable containers include coffee cans (their lids are too easily punctured), plastic milk jugs, plastic bags, aluminum cans and soda bottles. Note: DO NOT add bleach to the container. Bleach may not completely disinfect needles, and it could spill and injure you or waste handlers.

For more detailed instructions, see the publication Disposing of Household Sharps (PUB WA804) [PDF 44KB].

Correct Disposal of Household Sharps

Here are several options for disposing of household sharps:

Take your sharps to a registered sharps collection station. For a list of stations, see below.
Contact your doctor or clinic or local hospital; many health care facilities accept sharps but are not legally required to register and therefore may not appear on the list of registered sharps collection stations.
Call a local pharmacy, hospital, diabetes educator, public health department or solid waste or streets department about local options.
For large quantities (50 pounds or more), hire a licensed infectious waste hauler. See Facility Lists.
For small quantities up to 50 pounds, you may transport the sharps to an infectious waste treatment facility yourself.
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.
Reduce the amount of sharps you have to dispose by clipping the needles off the syringe. The needle-less syringe can go in the household trash.
Buy an inexpensive needle destruction device. The device must both disinfect and break the needle so it can no longer be reused. NOTE: Products that merely solidify whole sharps, with or without disinfection, do not meet this standard. If their containers split open when crushed in a garbage truck, landfill workers may get injured.

The above options are in our publications "Disposing of Household Sharps" and "Wisconsin Laws on Animal Medical Waste" which are in our Searchable Publication System.

Sharps Collection Stations

The DNR maintains a list of health care providers, pharmacies and others who have registered to collect sharps as a public service. There is at least one in most counties. In addition, many health care providers accept sharps but do not have to register with the DNR. The link to the list of Wisconsin's registered sharps collection stations is at the bottom of Facility Lists.

Please Note: If you plan to refer others to the list, please refer them to Sharps Disposal rather than Facility Lists. This will alert people to all the options for disposing of sharps.

Here are questions commonly asked about sharps collection stations:

Who can use sharps collection stations? Anyone, including businesses and institutions, who generates less than 50 pounds of sharps per month (including the weight of the container). However, some stations choose to accept sharps only from certain generators such as their patients, households or residents of a particular community. Call ahead to find out about any restrictions.
How much does it cost? 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. Again, call ahead to be sure.
How can I find out more about a particular sharps collection station? Each station's contact person is on the list and can answer questions about when a particular station is open, what it charges (if anything), who may use it, what kind of containers are accepted and whether replacement containers are provided or may be purchased.
What if there isn't a sharps collection station near me? See suggestions under Correct Disposal of Household Sharps above.
What if a station on the list no longer exists? If a registered station has moved or no longer collects sharps, please ask the owner to notify the DNR of the changes in writing. If the owner is unavailable, please contact your local DNR Environmental Program Associate for the Waste and Materials Management Program.

Disposing of Sharps Generated Away From Home

Individuals: If you need to use sharps when away from home, you may be able to find sharps boxes in public restrooms in airports, college dormitories, restaurants and highway rest areas. Hotels and motels may offer a small needle box for you to use in your room. You may also carry small sharps boxes to use when these other options are not available.

Some communities offer syringe exchange programs; these encourage illicit drug users to bring in their needles for proper disposal instead of discarding them in the environment.

Businesses and institutions: if you own a public place or business you may wish to provide sharps boxes in restrooms for guests and employees to use. Consider mounting the sharps box within a marked bathroom stall, rather than out by the sinks, to provide the user some privacy. Public places and businesses with sharps boxes in their restrooms do not register as a "sharps collection station" because they are "generators." You may wish to review the publication For Generators of Small Amounts of Infectious Waste (PUB WA815) [PDF 23KB] and Medical and Infectious Waste for legal requirements that apply to the waste generated on their premises.

Many non-household generators can use sharps collection stations or mail back opetions mentioned under Correct Disposal of Household Sharps, above. See also Transporting Infectious Waste, below.

Transporting Infectious Waste

Households: You or a member of your household may transport your sharps under the household exemption in s. NR 526.04(2), Wis. Adm. Code. Other non-sharp infectious waste may be disposed of in the regular trash. If you do transport sharps, use a proper container and put the container in an enclosed part of your vehicle (e.g., the trunk). Take it to a sharps collection station or an infectious waste treatment facility. For large amounts of sharps, you may wish to hire an infectious waste transporter; see Facility Lists.

Non-households: You may either hire a licensed infectious waste transporter (see Facility Lists), or transport the waste yourself as an exempt or licensed transporter. All transporters, exempt or not, must follow minimum safety requirements in s. NR 526.10(3). Those transporting less than 50 pounds per month, in every month of a calendar year, may transport infectious waste without a special license; this and other licensing exemptions are in s. NR 526.10 (2). Those transporting 50 pounds or more of infectious waste must obtain an infectious waste transportation license. For more information or to obtain a license application form, call the Environmental Program Associate for the Waste and Materials Management program nearest you.

More Information About Sharps Disposal

Contact Information

For questions and comments about sharps disposal, please contact:

DNR Medical Waste@Wisconsin.gov

Last Revised: Thursday April 16 2009