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

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.

Drop-off Location Finder for Safe Disposal of Sharps Containers

It is illegal for needles and other sharps to be placed into trash or recycling containers. During the recycling process, people hand; keep them safe by NOT placing needles/sharps in your recycling or trash bins. Sharps, syringes, needles, auto injectors, prefilled syringes with a needle, pen needles, and lancets should be placed in a sealed FDA-approved Sharps container. Sharps containers are available in pharmacies and drug stores, as well as online. There are kiosks/drop-boxes in pharmacies, hospitals and police departments can accept Sharps containers up to 1 gallon in size. HHW Facilities may accept larger sharps containers.

  • Free Sharps Containers: Free FDA-approved sharps containers may be ordered online by clicking here through the California Sharps Mail Back program. The pharmaceutical company that your injectable medication comes from may offer a free sharps container program.
  • Mail-back: Free shipping labels and envelopes to mail in your sharps container for safe disposal are available through Med-Project. Some pharmaceutical companies offer free mail-back of sharps containers to their injectables patients.

California has an extended producer responsibility law in place that requires pharmaceutical companies to pay for convenient, safe disposal of Sharps. Alameda County was the first in the nation to pass a Sharps EPR bill.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Walgreens 1580 Valencia St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
West County HHW Collection Facility 101 Pittsburg Ave. Richmond Recycle Free Drop-off, Drop-off for a Fee Accepted in approved sharps collection containers.
Waste Management, Inc. - Medical Waste Collection Services 1001 Fannin
Suite 4000
Houston Safe Disposal Pick-up for a Fee
New Oakland Pharmacy (Lake Merritt) 250 E 18th Street
3rd Floor
Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Kiosk inside. Sharps, syringes, needles, auto injectors, prefilled syringes with needle, and lancets should be in a sealed FDA cleared Sharps container. 1g max size.
Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program (Oakland Facility) 2100 East 7th Street Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off  Acceptance of standard size containers as well as larger than 1g sharps containers.  CGM's (continuous glucose monitors) are accepted from residents using these at home with the sharp (&/or applicator) separated into an approved FDA approved sharps container, and the devices collected in a thick Ziploc bag. At drop-off, resident should inform HHW staff they have these medical devices.
Walgreens 1100 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 5280 Geary Blvd. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
CVS Pharmacy (2000 Driscoll Rd) 2000 Driscoll Rd Fremont Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Walgreens 300 Montgomery St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 550 16th Street San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Mission Pharmacy 22138 Mission Blvd Hayward Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Walgreens 1979 Mission St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Recology SF Household Hazardous Waste Facility 501 Tunnel Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Limit of 15 gallons or 125 pounds per day of all household hazardous waste. San Francisco residents only. Address verification required. Open Thursday-Saturday only from 8am-4pm.
Native American Health Center (Seven Directions) 2950 International Blvd Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Sharps Kiosk inside for approved sharps containers.
MedWaste California 73 Beechwood Dr Oakland Safe Disposal Pick-up for a Fee
Access Pharmacy 2693 Fruitvale Ave Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Kiosk inside. Sharps, syringes, needles, auto injectors, prefilled syringes with needle, and lancets should be in a sealed FDA cleared Sharps container. 1g max container size.
Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program (Livermore Facility) 5584 La Ribera Street Livermore Safe Disposal Free Drop-off  Acceptance of standard size containers as well as larger than 1g sharps containers.  CGM's (continuous glucose monitors) are accepted from residents using these at home with the sharp (&/or applicator) separated into an approved FDA approved sharps container, and the devices collected in a thick Ziploc bag. At drop-off, resident should inform HHW staff they have these medical devices.
MedWaste Management 5830 W. 3rd St
Unit 331
Los Angeles Safe Disposal Pick-up for a Fee
Walgreens 5300 3rd St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 3001 Taraval St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off

Curbside Service

RE:Source is an online directory for reuse, repair and proper disposal options for the California East Bay area and Palo Alto. Our goal is to connect you with the best options for what you need to get rid of or repair. Please note that we do not accept any items directly.

If you have questions or feedback about this directory, please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

Additional Tools

  • Item Search
  • Vendor Search
  • Information for Vendors

Grab the mobile apps for answers on the go:

Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play
Brought to you by A public agency reducing waste in Alameda County since 1976.