BeavertonOregon.gov/Recycling
Medical
Three Important Things to Remember About Medical Waste
- Needles, lancets, and syringes are considered hazardous waste and must be disposed of properly. They are referred to as sharps.
- All sharps need to be handled and disposed of as medical waste even those used for livestock and pets.
- Please do not place sharps into your garbage can.
How to Store Sharps
When you use sharps, you must properly store them in an approved container. Containers such as milk jugs and coffee cans are not considered safe or acceptable for sharps storage.
Ask your local pharmacy or call Metro Recycling (503) 234-3000 for details.
How do I get sharps collected from my home?
Please do not place sharps into your garbage can.
Your garbage collector is prohibited by law from collecting garbage that contains sharps.
An option for collection from the convenience of your home is:
Sharps By Mail—Waste Management and Sharps Compliance Incorporated offer “Sharps By Mail”, a safe, confidential, “from home” mailing solution for sharps disposal. The program offers various container sizes and mailing options. For additional information, please call 1-877-927-8363 or visit www.wastemd.com or call Bio-Med of Oregon for home collection service options at 1-800-622-1378.
How can I take sharps myself?
The Self Delivery Option is another option for proper sharps disposal. Metro’s Sharps Program offer a program for household residents in the metropolitan region. (Residential care facilities, group homes and other commercial generators of sharps should contact a medical waste management company.)
You can bring sharps in approved sharps containers to Metro’s hazardous waste facilities. Metro will dispose of your sharps free of charge, and give you a new container.
How does the program work?
- Come to a Metro hazardous waste facility or call Metro Recycling Information at (503) 234-3000 to request an approved one-gallon or one-quart sharps container. There is a one-time $5 fee for the container and to participate in the program. (You also can purchase approved containers at many local pharmacies and medical supply stores.) When you bring the container to Metro for disposal, you can pay the $5 fee to receive a new container and become a participant in the program.
- Each time you bring in a full sharps container to the hazardous waste facility for disposal, you will receive a new container.
- You can dispose of up to 5 gallons of sharps at one time. Larger volumes require prior arrangements.
Metro operates two hazardous waste facilities that accept properly contained sharps. For safety reasons, sharps that are not in approved sharps containers cannot be accepted at the Metro transfer stations. You will be directed to the hazardous waste facility for an approved sharps container.
If you bring loose sharps to the hazardous waste facility, Metro staff will ask that you transfer those sharps into an approved container yourself.
For more information, call Metro Recycling Information at (503) 234-3000.
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