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SB1305, a bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on July 12, 2006, prohibits the placement of home-generated “sharps” in solid waste and recycling containers effective September 1, 2008. In light of this bill, several cities in Orange County are taking advantage of a program offered by Waste Management to safely handle and dispose of sharps such as used hypodermic needles, lancets or test strips, via a mail-back program.
Mission Viejo is the first city in Orange County to adopt a sharps mail-back program, which launched in October, and Laguna Beach will soon initiate a program of its own.
Diabetics and others use thousands of needles every day as part of treatments for chronic medical conditions. Many of these sharps are improperly disposed of and end up in residential trash bins or recycling carts, creating a safety and health risk for children, people in the community and Waste Management workers both on the route and at collection facilities.
To address this issue, local cities and Waste Management have implemented a convenient Sharps Disposal by Mail System for residents of the city. The Sharps Disposal by Mail System, administered by Waste Management partner Sharps Compliance, Inc., provides individuals a way of disposing of used hypodermic needles, lancets, test strips and other small quantity medical waste. Each system includes a specially designed sharps container and a postage-prepaid shipping container – which can be obtained at a local pharmacy – ensuring residents’ medical waste will be delivered safely by the U.S. Postal Service to a certified medical waste facility, where it is destroyed.
Used sharps are placed inside the container for safe storage. When full, the container is closed, bagged and sealed inside its original packaging. Residents then return the postage pre-paid box to their mail carrier or nearest post office.
For more information, visit www.wastemd.com or contact Chrystal Fennel-Denning at Waste Management at 714-480-2315.
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