Learn More About Safe Medication Disposal

Q: Why do needles and sharps need to be disposed of differently?

A: The purpose of specific needle and sharp disposal locations is to protect the community from injury and the transmission of bloodborne diseases.

Q: Where are needles and sharps disposed of?

A: New York State requires all hospitals and nursing homes to accept needles and sharps from their local communities. Other locations that potentially accept sharps are pharmacies, health clinics, police stations, etc. No matter the location you visit, needles and sharps must be in a thick, secure container (e.g., laundry detergent container, milk jug, etc.).

Local needle and sharps disposal sites:

Local Police Stations accepting sharps/needles:

• Brockport Police Department
  • 1 Clinton St, Brockport, NY 14420
• East Rochester Police Department
  • Drop off directly at office
  • 317 Main St, East Rochester, NY 14445
• Irondequoit Police Department
  • Drop off in sharps container located in the basement
  • 1300 Titus Ave, Rochester, NY 14617
• Ogden Police Department
  • 269 Ogden Center Rd # 1, Spencerport, NY 14559

Local Health Care Facilities accepting sharps/needles:

• Park Ridge Apothecary at Unity Hospital
  • 1561 Long Pond Rd, Rochester, NY 14626 
  • South end of campus, parking lot B1; any form accepted, but preferred to be in a sharps container, coffee can, laundry detergent bottle, etc.; hand it to pharmacy staff and they will take care of it
• Strong Memorial Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy
  • 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642
  • Come to the side door at the Outpatient Pharmacy, ring the doorbell; sharps must be safely packaged in a sharps container, or some other resistant container such as coffee can, laundry detergent bottle, etc. Sharps must be received by a pharmacy employee during business hours.
• Highland Hospital Outpatient Pharmacy
  • Kenneth M. Miller, RPH, 1000 South Ave, Rochester, NY 14620
  • Bring to the front desk of the main lobby; sharps should be in a sharps container/plastic container such as laundry detergent bottle, etc.
• Rochester General Hospital
  • 1425 Portland Ave, Rochester, NY 14621
  • Give to security in emergency department in a sharps container

Q: How do you safely dispose of medication in household trash?

A: Most over-the-counter drugs (e.g., pills, liquids, drops, patches, and creams) can be disposed of in the trash by following these steps:

1. Remove drugs from the original container and mix with something undesirable such as coffee grounds, dirt, cat litter.
2. Put the mixture in a sealable container such as a plastic zip-top bag.
3. Throw the container in the garbage.
4. Remove any personal information on empty medicine containers.

For more information, review the FDA's medication disposal information.

Q: When is it appropriate to flush medications down the toilet?

A: If you do not have access to a drug disposal location, check the medicine label or the FDA’s list of flushable medications.

Medications are added to the FDA flush list based on two criteria: (1) the medication is sought-after for its misuse and/or abuse potential, and (2) the medication can result in death from one dose if inappropriately taken. When disposing of a medication on the FDA’s flush list and a drug take back program is not available, flushing that medication helps keep everyone in your home safe by making sure the powerful and potentially dangerous medication (when used inappropriately) is not accidentally or intentionally ingested, touched, misused, or abused. The FDA believes that “the known risk of harm, including toxicity and death, to humans from accidental exposure to medicines on the flush list far outweighs any potential risk to human health and the environment from flushing these unused or expired medicines.”

Q: What percentage of medications go unused?

A: Johns Hopkins University conducted a study to look at the amount of opioid prescriptions that go unused after surgery. From this study, researchers found that anywhere from 42 to 71 percent of the prescribed pills that were dispensed went unused among the post-surgery patients. This is consistent with the finding of another study looking at post-dental surgery patients. In this study, researchers found that 54 percent of the prescribed opioids went unused.

Opioids go unused much more frequently than other prescription or over-the-counter medications (OTCs). This is because opioids are meant to treat an acute problem that gets better over time. Prescribers tend to over-prescribe leaving patients with extra pills. Other prescription medications for chronic conditions have been found to go unused much less often, ~5 to 10 percent of the time. This is the case because dosage and medication changes happen less frequently with these medications.

Q: What happens to disposed medications?

A: Leftover drugs are said to be “non-retrievable.” This means that they are not resold, repackaged, donated, or otherwise released back into circulation. The DEA requires that the method of disposal “permanently alter the substance’s physical or chemical condition or state through irreversible means and thereby render the substance unavailable and unusable for all practical purposes.” This is normally achieved in one of two ways: incineration or chemical digestion. During chemical digestion the drug is dissolved into a solution and is rendered unusable. According to the EPA though, incineration is the safest and most effective disposal method for unused pharmaceuticals. During incineration in the primary combustion chamber, the medications are heated to between 1600 and 1800℃ thereby degrading the organic material into gasses. In the second combustion chamber these gasses are further degraded into atoms. In the final step, these atoms are recombined with oxygen to form stable, non-hazardous compounds (H₂O & CO₂). Inorganic materials not converted to gas end up as ash and are disposed of according to strict regulations in a specially designated landfill.