Burbank, Calif.-February 2012 – Although it is illegal to throw used needles and syringes in the trash in California, more than 936 million home-generated sharps end up in the waste stream annually, according to CalRecycle. This is often due to the lack of convenient return options for users of these medical products.
Nationally, 13.5 million people use sharps outside the healthcare setting with up to 7.8 billion needles and syringes improperly disposed of each year, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. To find solutions to this problem, the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) recently co-hosted and facilitated a workshop at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif.
The workshop brought together retailers, manufacturers, recyclers, and waste management companies as well as academics, government representatives, and people from non-governmental organizations. Together, they looked at the problem and a range of possible solutions and opportunities in such areas as technology, partnerships, and sustainable design.
Part of the surge in used needles comes from the rising number of people with diabetes, accounting for 90 percent of the sharps generated, according to Tom Erickson, CEO of Ulti-Med, Inc. While 4 percent of users put used needles in a puncture-resistant container, 3 percent flush them down the toilet and 93 percent throw them in the trash. “Only 4 percent of sharps are disposed of in a puncture-resistant container and delivered to an approved medical collection site,” said Erickson. The only manufacturer that bundles containers with needles, Ulti-Med manufactures insulin syringes and pen needles in the U.S. and Canada.
Read the complete article at Diabetes Health