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
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.
Casa Segura East 12th St. & 23rd Ave. Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 88 Spear St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 456 Mission St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2145 Market St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 1344 Stockton St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Moraga Fire Station 1280 Moraga Way Moraga Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Please place needles/sharps in an authorized sharps container before placing them in the collection receptacle.
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.
MedWaste Management 5830 W. 3rd St
Unit 331
Los Angeles Safe Disposal Pick-up for a Fee
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 1175 Columbus Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
New Oakland Pharmacy (333 9th St) 333 9th St
b/t Webster St & Franklin St
Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Drop-off Box inside for needles/syringes in FDA-approved Sharps Containers up to 1 gallon in size.
Casa Segura 100th Ave. & Pearmain St. Oakland Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 965 Geneva Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Program (Hayward Facility) 2091 West Winton Avenue Hayward Safe Disposal Free Drop-off  Acceptance of standard size containers as well as larger than 1g sharps containers. 
Walgreens 459 Powell St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 2494 San Bruno Ave. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Walgreens 135 Powell St. San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off
Mt. View Sanitary District (MVSD) 3800 Arthur Rd. Martinez Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Please place needles/sharps in an authorized sharps container before placing them in the collection receptacle.
Koshland Pharm Compounding Pharmacy 301 Folsom Street, Suite B San Francisco Safe Disposal Free Drop-off Pickup a FREE empty sharps collection container, fill it up, and return to the any participating SF pharmacy.

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