Sharps bin disposal?

[DorotheaDiamond]

Has anyone managed to find a way to dispose of a full sharps bin? Chemists in my borough won’t touch it, the council website gets me to fill in a form for a collection but I never get any call to arrange it! Council website says otherwise it’s the prescribers responsibility but none of the online pharmacies I’ve used will do it!!!

im going to give up
and just put it in a rubbish bin at this point!

My council’s website has a list of pharmacies that will accept sharps boxes, it includes all Boots pharmacies and the local Morrisons pharmacy - I live near a city, so that’s probably in my favour

Oh sharps bins are a fucking nightmare. I had to have one for a different medication (dupixent) and the council just ignored me and all the chemists that listed themselves as taking them only did so for insulin.

Some tips offer sharps disposal. Otherwise you have to pester the council over email. I had 3 tubs of sharps at one point and then they apparently came to get them… but didn’t take the bin.

3 months later I managed to get them to take the bins.

My local GP surgery takes them. But my kid is diabetic so they have too.

when we’re away I just use a empty pop bottle or a tub and chuck them in there write sharps on it & put it in the bin. It’s fine.

😢😢

My council says they will collect but only with a referral from an NHS email address.

Which obviously cuts out anyone with a private prescription.. obviously sharps from a private prescriber aren't dangerous

And tbh when I did try their collection service for my child's NHS prescription sharps, it didn't work and no one ever turned up.

The system is an absolute farce

I used to work in the Waste department of my local Council. As PP, waste is not "handled". The collection staff wheel the bin to the truck. The truck then empties directly into the pit at the incinerator. At no point does anyone touch anything other than the outside of your bin. It's not physical possible for them to get a needle stick injury.

It's not a complete farce, but it's very much dependent on where you live.

So why are some council websites telling people to seal in a sharps container and put in with regular waste?
Could it be that some councils don’t physically handle waste? It does from truck straight into incinerator?

Can you book a business waste service to collect the sharps bin?
I have a business waste refuse collection in addition to my council bin despite not being a business as it saves me having to go to the tip.

So wheelie bins never tip over in the street ? Refuse collectors never go on strike leaving rubbish on the streets (see Birmingham) , collection lorrys never break down needing relief vehicles etc etc etc .

Why do you think there is quite strong legislation concerning the disposal of clinical waste and specifically mentioning sharps and their disposal if just dumping it in a milk bottle and chucking it in general rubbish was perfectly acceptable?

Why would the wheelie bin tipping over mean that the bin men have to take the lid off a secure container, get the needles out and prick themselves, removing their gloves? There clearly isn’t strong legislation or councils wouldn’t advise people to put it in a rigid container in the main bin would they?

Three weeks worth of normal rubbish is pretty heavy. Plastic recycling bins regularly tip over, - grey bins pretty much never. If a bin lorry breaks down, another refuse collection vehicle is sent (eventually!) because no other type of vehicle can empty bins, or is allowed to tip at the incinerator. I said in my original post, the risk to collection staff from waste within a bin is miniscule. Litter pickers are far more at risk from inappropriately discarded needles. Just saying what happens where I live / used to work.

I used a sharps bin when I was in active heroin addiction. Wouldn't have dreamt of stuffing used sharps into a milk bottle for the binmen. Most IV drug addicts return their sharps, the needle exchange won't provide new ones without it.

Don't the labels on sharps bins explicitly state NOT to dispose of in general waste? Or is this no longer the case?

Don't the labels on sharps bins explicitly state NOT to dispose of in general waste? Or is this no longer the case?

Mine doesn't - incineration or alternative means.

Pictures once reviewed.

Mine are same as @EBearhug

And those bins are THICK. Unless a literal lorry ran over one and popped it, I don’t see how anyone’s getting a prick to the finger.

Fascinating thread - I had to get rid of sharps bin due to needing blood thinners after losing a pregnancy and then later when I had my son, and I just gave them to the local pharmacy.

How ridiculous that this process can't be standardised across the country.

It's the same with most waste disposal. If you move to a different council, you have to learn a whole new system of which bin to use and what is allowed in.

This is the same text as my council, or maybe we’re the same area? Does this also imply that if there’s no health risk then it can go with general waste?

I have phoned my local pharmacy and they take sharps bins. My local recycling centre won’t. So I’m lucky I guess as I can drop them off to the pharmacy. How ridiculous that they isn’t a standardised way of doing things.

Well, I can’t see that there is ‘any particular risk’? I give plasma regularly, so I think I’d know if I had anything nasty.

It could certainly be read that way.

I just feel that this saying unless you have an illness associated with risks then it can go in general waste?

No, you know you don't have anything nasty at the last point they tested, of the list of things they test for. You could have picked up something since then, or you could have something they don't test for, for which there is no test. That's also why they have the long health questionnaire.

In any case, it's not just about your rubbish - if someone gets an injury picking up rubbish, they might then have an open wound leaving them at more risk when they handle other rubbish which is contaminated in some way after the injury.

Well, as @FattyBumBumNoMore points out, my council appears to disagree with you - it seems that for the full robust sealed sharps bin I have, general rubbish (which is incinerated) is indeed going to be the place for it.

I would agree with you somewhat in that I don’t feel this is best practice by local authorities. I would say that all needles regardless of their use should be collected. However, I suspect there’s an ever increasing cost implication here so they are saying we need to take responsibility for ourselves and make a suitable judgement. I feel I can make that judgement based on what I know about my health and the LA guidance seems to back that up.

The sharps are in a sealed rigid container. Why would anyone get pricked? What about the people who have to handle the sharps collection in the areas where that is a thing? Surely they could get pricked too (if they open the sealed container and mess around with the needles)?
Why are people up in arms about this when some councils are literally telling people to put them in the normal rubbish in a sealed container? So people are following the advice the council gives but apparently it’s still not good enough and some random from Mumsnet still believes that the bin men will contract HIV from it.