County Issues Reminder About Disposal of Medical Implements

ba/med.pr

Contact: Esther Bowring, 301-217-2770
For Immediate Release: January 5, 1998

County Issues Reminder About
Disposal of Medical Impements

Persons who use syringes, needles and lancets at home for medical purposes are urged by the County's Division of Solid Waste Services not to place these items in their recycling bins.

Although it is common practice to store used syringes and needles in plastic bottles, containers full of needles, etc. should be disposed in any one of several other safe, easy and effective ways. Store the used, sharp objects in chlorine bleach in a sealed container, such as a screw-top milk jug or in a commercially available disposal box, and when full, dispose of the container in one of the following environmentally acceptable ways:

Take the sealed container to your doctor's office;
Place the sealed container in the regular trash;
Drop off the sealed container at Holy Cross Hospital or Montgomery General Hospital;
Call any pharmacist and ask about the Monoject OnGard Waste Disposal System, which provides safe syringe disposal via the U.S. Postal Service.

Solid Waste Services officials remind residents that contaminants (non-recyclable items) of all types pose problems for the end users of our recyclables.

Esther Bowring, senior planner with the Division of Solid Waste Services, explained that recyclables are the raw materials for manufacturers who remake them into new products. "Contaminants reduce the quality of these raw materials and can actually interfere with the manufacturing process," Bowring said.

"That's why it's so important to be aware of what contaminants are and know how to keep them out of your recyclables." She said that a truckload of plastic bottles destined for recycling from the County's facility was recently rejected because one of the plastic milk jugs contained syringes.

Another important consideration is the effect of handling contaminants on the workers who sort and process recyclables. "Encountering any one of these medical 'sharps' in the recyclables, could expose the workers to significant hazards," Bowring said.

For more information on proper disposal of medical implements, call Holy Cross Hospital at 301-754-7080 or 301-905-0100; Montgomery General Hospital, 301-774-8882 or 301-774-8999; or the Montgomery County Recycling Hotline at 301-590-0046.

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