Guide for Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Safe Disposal
for Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City of Palo Alto

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Needles & Syringes

A needle and syringe is a common delivery system for injectable medicines and other drugs, such as used diabetic test lancets and used or unused needles which are collectively called sharps.

Household Hazardous Waste

This item should never be put in a curbside bin. For more information visit our household hazardous waste page.

It is illegal for needles and other sharps to be placed into trash or recycling containers. People hand sort at the start of the recycling process; keep them safe by not placing used needles in plastic containers and putting them in your recycling bin.

Sharps, syringes, needles, auto injectors, prefilled syringes with needle, and lancets should be in a sealed FDA cleared Sharps container. Sharps containers are available in most drug stores and from mail order & internet ecommerce sources. Kiosks in pharmacies, Hospitals and Police Departments can accept Sharps containers up to 1 gallon in size. HHW Facilities accept larger sharps containers.

Sharps containers are available in most drug stores and from mail order & internet e-commerce sources.

Free Mail-back containers mailed directly to your home are available by calling 1-844-633-7765 or visiting med-project.org, choose "Mail Back" to fill out an on-line order form. Novo Nordisk also has a free Mail-back container service for their customers: 1-877-438-0564.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Alameda Hospital 2070 Clinton Ave
Entrance on Willow St.
Alameda Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-box inside. all medications, including Controlled Substances. Bring pills in a ziploc bag, with liquids & creams in their own bag. Recycle plastic bottles & lids in curbside recycling cart.
CVS Pharmacy (Marina Village Pkwy) 931 Marina Village Parkway Alameda Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-box inside
Alameda Police Department 2263 Santa Clara St Alameda Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off box in lobby. All pills, including controlled substances,should be poured out into Ziploc bags. (Recycle bottles & lids) Place original containers of liquids & creams in their own Ziploc bag. Obscure personal information.
Alamo Sheriff's Substation 150 Alamo Plaza
Suite C
Alamo Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Needles & Syringes must be in approved container and can be placed in the needles drop box.
Delta HHW Collection Facility 2550 Pittsburg-Antioch Hwy Antioch Safe Disposal Free Drop-off, Drop-off for a Fee The Delta HHW Collection Facility Sharps Program is available to residents of East Contra Costa County. Please go to https://www.deltadiablo.org/sharps for more information and directions.
Berkeley Police Department 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Way Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution (Durant Ave) 2340 Durant Ave Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution (Hearst St) Hearst Street @ San Pablo Ave Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens (Adeline St) 2801 Adeline St Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off kiosk inside. Syringes and auto-injectors in sharps containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution (Shattuck Ave) 3124 Shattuck Ave Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
UC Berkeley, University Health Services, Tang Center 2222 Bancroft Ave
Room 115
Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-box in pharmacy.
CVS Pharmacy (Telegraph Ave) 2655 Telegraph Ave Berkeley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Walgreens (Castro Valley Blvd) 3382 Castro Valley Blvd Castro Valley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off kiosk inside. Syringes and auto-injectors in sharps containers up to 1 gallon in size.
CVS Pharmacy (3667 Castro Valley Blvd) 3667 Castro Valley Blvd Castro Valley Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Clayton Police Department 6000 Heritage Trail Clayton Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Please place needles/sharps in an authorized sharps container before placing them in the collection receptacle.
Kaiser Medical Offices Pharmacy (Dublin) 3100 Dublin Blvd Dublin Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-box inside.
CVS Pharmacy (7201 Regional St) 7201 Regional St Dublin Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center 7501 Schmidt Ln. El Cerrito Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Must be in a thick plastic container with a screw top lid.; Bin always locked seek staff for assistance (office and/or yard). Only for RecycleMore residents.
Richmond Fire Department Station #63 5201 Valley View Rd. El Sobrante Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Must be in approved sharps container.
CVS Pharmacy (4020 Fremont Blvd) 4020 Fremont Blvd Fremont Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.

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