What happens to the needles and pens?

[SoCoolFan]

Hi
How do you get a rid of the used needles and pens? Thanks

My council do a free sharps collection if you have a sharps bin. You just book it online and they collect it from your house.

When you are given or buying injections, the person providing them needs to be clear about how to dispose of the used needles. There are tight laws about this, and putting them in the general waste is dangerous and illegal. If you are buying needles privately, you probably have to pay for disposal privately too.

If you are not receiving instructions on how to dispose of the needles, I would be questioning the validity and integrity of your provider, to the point that I would not be injecting anything they provide.

I have had to inject myself multiple times as part of cancer treatment. The disposal of used needles is a hassle, but I did get it for free. I could take one sharps bin up to a local pharmacy every 3 months. I did need to arrange the day in advance, and wait around for them to take it off my hands, but it didn't cost me anything

You should have a sharps bin that you keep at home and then, when that’s full, disposed of using your guidelines through your local council.

I’m not sure I quite understand the strength of feeling about putting the pens in the normal bin? The pens themselves have no needle attached. You put a new one on for each injection which then obviously needs to be disposed of correctly in a sharps box. But the actual pen… what’s the issue?

This is very deeply shocking, the poster genuinely seemed not to know how dangerous and illegal this is, which makes me very suspicious of their provider, who should have made this very clear - I wonder how many other unsupervised users are doing this. Very worrying indeed.

https://www.gov.uk/request-clinical-waste-collection

to look up where you can legally and responsibly dispose of needles and syringes.

I am dumbfounded that anyone can think it acceptable to put medical waste , however packaged , in the bin. It is utterly irresponsible putting the lives of everyone who handles them on the way to the landfill , or people who may be coming across them in the landfill in future , at risk.

By law they are medical waste and must be incinerated as contaminated waste .

The pen will be contaminated with blood as there is always some blood that is sucked back. It is medical waste and subject to the same laws about disposal of clinical waste ie it must be incinerated for everyone’s protection who has to handle waste or who may come across it in future.

Ask your local authority for a sharps bin. When it's full ask them to collect it and request a new one. Simples!

Google seems to think it's ok?

Spend £5 on Amazon and save bin men the bloody stress. Don't be a idiot.

@Getonwitit no need for name calling.

For the love of God, anything that has been injected into you may well have some blood in it from you. Do you really want some poor sod at the waste centre getting something all over them, not knowing what it is and having to make a trip to A&E. And all because you are too lazy to put in the proper bin.

I am genuinely shocked that providers are not supporting this quite basic requirement and agree with a pp that it casts doubt on their legitimacy.

The pens are not syringes, there is absolutely no blood sucked back in. They are fine to go in the regular bin and the needles go into a sharps bin.

That bin once full needs to be disposed off properly though, through a pharmacy or proper council waste stream for biohazards

Right enough.

I'm not lazy or an idiot. Ill informed? Yes.

Point taken I will not put anymore in the bin.

My local authority provides yellow bags for clinical waste. My oldest has an insulin pump and continuous blood sugar monitor. Everything goes in the yellow sack and is collected by them.

Yes the yellow bags are for 'soft' clinical waste and sharps bin for needles.

Pens contain blood and left over medication please dispose of responsibly and as contaminated clinical waste. You can even recycle
https://www.chemist-4-u.com/guides/pharmaceutical-advice/pencycle-scheme/

Any injection device will be contaminated with both blood and the medication . It should not be in the bin , it is a medical device. Particularly when there is a free way of safely recycling where no one is at risk

https://www.pen-cycle.co.uk/patients/diabetes-or-weight-management-patients/how-can-i-pencycle.html

It is very clear in the information leaflets what to do with them.

These really need to be regulated so they're only given under supervision if people aren't responsible enough to dispose of needles correctly.

I totally agree sharps shouldn't be put in general household waste. However, where I live none of the local chemists will accept sharps bins - you have to arrange a collection from the council, by calling a phone number. But every time I've called, which is many times, no one has answered.

I've managed by asking the local hospitals very nicely to take them for me when I have a medical appointment there. However, I can totally understand why some people might give up and put the sharps bin in their outside bin.

The pens aren't nova Nordisk are they though so the recycling scheme doesn't apply?

I throw pen with lid on in household waste like it tells you to in the leaflet (as another poster had linked)

Can you not request a collection on line? My l/a does that.

If it’s Wegovy , then it’s nova Nordisk