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.
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.
North East Medical Services 1400 Noriega Street San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
CVS Pharmacy (4405 1st St) 4405 First St Livermore Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Tennyson Pharmacy 589 W Tennyson Rd Hayward Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Mission Wellness Pharmacy (2424 Mission) 2424 Mission San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 745 Clement St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 141 Kearny St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
San Ramon Public Safety Complex 2401 Crow Canyon Blvd
(in the Police Department Lobby)
San Ramon Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Please place needles/sharps in an authorized sharps container before placing them in the collection receptacle (kiosk).
Walgreens 456 Mission St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2145 Market St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2494 San Bruno Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
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.
North East Medical Services 2574 San Bruno Avenue San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
CVS Pharmacy (3010 Bernal Ave) 3010 Bernal Ave Pleasanton Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Haller's Pharmacy & Medical Supply (37323 Fremont Blvd) 37323 Fremont Boulevard 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 790 Van Ness Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 1524 Polk St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walnut Creek City Hall 1666 North Main Street Walnut Creek Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Please place needles/sharps in an authorized sharps container before placing them in the collection receptacle.

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.