Solid Waste and Recycling -
Home-Generated Sharps Waste

What is Senate Bill (SB) 1305?

SB 1305 is a bill authored by Senator Figueroa to would revise a section of the state's Medical Waste Management Act to make it a violation of state law for home-generated sharps waste to be placed in solid waste collection containers, including recycling and greenwaste containers. SB 1305 would also require sharps waste to be transported in an approved sharps containers and managed by a specified facility (i.e., household hazardous waste facility, medical waste generator facility, or a facility managed as part of a mail back program).

SB 1305 was approved by Gov. Schwarzenegger on July 12, 2006 and took effect on September 1, 2008.

To read the complete text of the bill, click here.

What is "Home-Generated Sharps Waste"?

By definition, "home-generated sharps waste" means hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications and which are derived from a household, including a multifamily residence or household.

Why can't I throw my sharps in the trash cart?

Improper disposal of these devices in the trash or down the toilet is a health and safety threat to children, home health care providers, sanitation and sewage treatment workers, and others through accidental “stick” injuries. Besides the pain of a needle-stick injury, people exposed to sharps can contract life-altering diseases from bloodborne pathogens.

Where can I dispose of my used sharps?

To safely dispose of your used home-generated sharps, place them in a biohazard sharps container and contact your personal physician, clinic administrator, or local pharmacy, and ask if they have a sharps take-back program in place for their customers. If sharps are purchased on-line, please remember to request a pre-addressed, prepaid mail-back box for used sharps. Mail-back containers are also available and are easy and convenient to use. A list of sharps mail-back services authorized for use in California is available from the California Department of Public Health: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/medicalwaste/Pages/MailBackSharps.aspx.

Locally, San Joaquin County's Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Consolidation Facility accepts home-generated sharps, medications (no controlled substances), and other household hazardous waste free of charge from San Joaquin County residents. The HHW Facility is open to the public three days per week, Thursday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It is located at 7850 R.A. Bridgeford Street in Stockton, California.

All sharps must be sealed in a biohazard sharps container. Approved containers can be picked up free of charge at the HHW Facility. For more information on the San Joaquin County HHW Program, please call the Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Division at 209-468-3066.

For more resources visit http://www.safeneedledisposal.org or call the Coalition for Safe Community Needle Disposal at 1-800-643-1643. For more information on medical waste call the California Department of Public Health at (916) 449-5671.

Source: San Joaquin County