Disposal of Used Harm Reduction Supplies

Best practice recommendations

for safe disposal of used harm reduction supplies:

• Provide sharps containers for personal use

• Inform people where community disposal bins are located

• Provide disposal education to people who use drugs

• Give disposal education to the community

• Accept used needles for disposal

• Offer multiple ways to dispose of supplies (including outdoor community disposal boxes)

Safe disposal of used

harm reduction supplies is important to protect the community and people who use drugs from:

• Needle stick injuries.

• Injuries from sharp pieces of damaged supplies (e.g. broken or chipped straight stems and bowl pipes, sharp edges from folded cookers).

• Used supplies that could transmit HIV, hepatitis B and C.

Disposal of used injecting and inhalation supplies should be in line with local laws for biomedical waste.

Touching injecting supplies used by someone else is risky. Here are some safety tips for needle disposal:

• Dispose of needles in a puncture resistant sharps container.

• Put needles and syringes needle-end down in the container.

• Re-cap ONLY your own syringe after use before discarding.

• Don’t try to remove, bend or break needles used by yourself or someone else.

• If there is no sharps container, put syringe inside a pop bottle or other capped hard plastic container that can be sealed. Loose syringes in garbage bags can injure other people.

• Never flush a used syringe down the toilet. They can clog pipes and injure the individuals who will need to remove them.

Touching INHALING supplies used by someone else is risky. Here are some safety tips for disposal:

• Dispose of straight stems and bowl pipes in a puncture resistant sharps container.

• Do not smash or break pipes before disposing of them. Small glass pieces with blood on them can end up on a sidewalk, playground, floor or table. They can injure others.

• If there is no sharps container available, put used straight stems or bowl pipes in a pop bottle or other capped container that can be sealed. Loose straight stems or bowl pipes in garbage bags can injure people.

• Never flush used supplies down the toilet. They can clog pipes and injure the individuals who will need to remove them.

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