Disposing needles

[Academicallyminded]

As I approach maintenance, and hopefully come off the jabs in a few months, I'm wondering how I might safely (and if possible, discreetly) dispose off the needle collection I have? Would appreciate any suggestions people might have. Thanks.

Your local council website should have details of how to organise a sharps bin collection, or you might find a local pharmacy that will take them.

Just buy a sharps bin. The pharmacy ideally would have given you one with your first order.

I have them in a sharps bin. My council seems to require me to fill in a form, send it to my healthcare professional who in turn has to sign and send the form to the Council for the council to arrange a collection. I ordered the pens online (Swift most recently). Not sure how to organize this! Anyone faced this?

My sharps bin isn't full yet but I presume I can take it to the pharmacy where I get my prescription so they can dispose of it for me. But maybe that's not the case?

ETA actually it was my GP surgery that gave me the sharps bin when they first prescribed MJ for me. So maybe I could return it there and swap it for a new one when the time comes

You could try asking Swift if they can sign the form for you, they are quite responsive usually.

My GP receptionist said they wouldn't take mine over the phone, but when I went to an appointment I took it with me in the car and asked the receptionist if she could point me in the right direction as I had tried pharmacies, council, environmental etc and everyone said no, so she said if it was small (mines is a tiny 0.25L one) she would take it.

Now I make sure I only put in needles (no bulky outer caps) so it is going to last at least another year (also has my privately sourced B12 needles in it too) before I need to try to get rid of another one!

That's interesting @WeAllHaveWings . Is your MJ prescribed by your GP?

Med Express sent me a sharps bin with my first order, surprised you didn't get sent one. Sorry just read and you did. I'll probably ask my vet to dispose of it for me

No also private, I told the receptionist it was private. Think it was just harder to say no face to face when I was asking for help, she probably wasn't supposed to take it 😂

My sealed sharps bin is going to live at the back of a cupboard forever, since no-where around here will take it (much faff over council collections too). We're having building work done soon, maybe I can chuck it in the foundations.
(No I will not actually do that).

I've just checked my local council website re clinical waste disposal, and there is a (short) list of pharmacies in the area who will accept sharps bins. However, it doesn't say whether it will take bins filled with private prescriptions.

My MJ is an NHS prescription, my needles and bin were given to me by my GP, so I would be very disappointed if the NHS won't take the filled bin for me.

I don’t see anything wrong with that!

I have two full sharps bins. My council, GP or local pharmacies won’t take them. I’m just collecting needles at this point.

I’m going to take it with next time I give blood or go to a hospital!

I was prescribed Wegovy by my local NHS hospital. During one visit,
after we had been approved to take it, there was a group meeting when we were told how to inject it, and so on.

They told us to ring our local council to ask how to dispose of the sharps box. We were from several counties so perhaps it’s different for each.

All councils will have provision for medical waste disposal. It may involve a bit of effort setting up a collection especially as a one off but that’s usually what is needed.

Some pharmacies will accept sharps bins, but most GP surgeries won’t as we have a clinical waste contract that we pay for. Payment is calculated by weight or numbers of bins, so we won’t accept patients’ sharps bins. Also as you pay council tax it’s your councils responsibility!

Where I am we have to arrange a collection from the council, it's fairly simple, you fill in a form, which gives you a date, and leave it on your doorstep for collection, they also deliver new sharps bins if necessary. When I was having a lot of medical treatment and was filling a sharps bin every week or so, I sometimes took them to hospital appointments with me and they disposed of them, although I don't think they were meant to!

I get mine swapped at my local health centre, no questions asked. Maybe they think I'm a drug user, but I don't care lol!

Even if they've been prescribed by that surgery?

My local Boots pharmacy will take sharps boxes.

Even then. We prescribe but have no responsibility to arrange disposal. It’s covered by waste management at a council level. It’s “covered” by your council tax under medical waste!

Our waste contract only covers clinical waste created on our premises and is audited, weighed and charged accordingly.

Good idea I will ask

Thanks @Sidge I hadnt realised that.

This is crazy, when you consider how many players will be collecting sharps bins. How can there be nowhere to dispose of them?!

There is somewhere to dispose of them - you just have to arrange it with your council. Have a look on your councils website under waste disposal or medical waste.