Residential recycling and disposal search tool

Needles and syringes

How to safely dispose of needles and syringes

Use extra caution

Be careful when handling and preparing this item for disposal. Read the special instructions below for details.

Needles

Examples of medical sharps

  • Needles and syringes
  • Diabetic lancets
  • Ozempic pens 
  • EpiPens

How to dispose

There are two ways to dispose of needles and syringes.

Pharmacy disposal

  • Take to a special drop-off location

Many pharmacies provide safe disposal of needles and syringes. Contact your pharmacy to see if they participate in sharps disposal or find a participating pharmacy here.

Needles must be properly packaged to prevent injuries. Many pharmacies offer sharps containers at their locations.

Garbage

  • Put into your black cart

Put properly packaged needles into your black cart as garbage. This is for the safety of your collector and landfill staff.

Special instructions

  • Needles must go into a puncture-resistant, non- breakable, sealed container (e.g. plastic bleach bottle, laundry detergent container, plastic pail with lid). Label the bottle as "sharps" with a permanent marker then put in your black cart.
  • Do not use cardboard boxes as they can rip/break open. Never put needles in your blue cart or community recycling depot as they can't be recycled.
  • If you find a needle outside, please see our Discarded Needle disposal information​.

Explore similar items

Blood glucose test strips

Face masks

Prescription drugs

COVID-19 home test kits

drop-off/landfill-throw-n-go-facilities,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null,undefined/null