Medical sharps, such as needles and syringes, are convenient devices used by millions to safely self-inject medications outside of health-care settings, often to treat conditions like diabetes. More than 100,000 residents in Oklahoma are prescribed self-injecting medications, generating as many as 60 million needles per year. When needles are flushed or trashed, they pose grave health and safety risks to residents, sanitation workers, sewage treatment plant operators, waste management personnel, and hospitality workers. A 2018 survey showed that 53% of materials recovery facilities observed needles in household waste at least weekly; over half reported one or more needle-stick injury in 2016.
That’s why The Choctaw Nation, Indian Health Services, and Covanta Environmental Solutions partnered with the Product Stewardship Institute, a policy advocate and consulting nonprofit that pioneered product stewardship in the United States, to expand sharps take-back infrastructure in Oklahoma. Through the program, participating health clinics in eight areas provide sharps users with easy-to-use containers that allow them to drop off or mail in their used sharps, protecting people and the environment.
“The implementation of a sharps mail-back program in Oklahoma is a big step forward in helping remove this material from households,” said Brad Wright, Vice President and General Manager of Healthcare Solutions at Covanta. “This grant will ensure that the public will have access to disposal containers which will then be managed and processed in the most sustainable manner possible.”
This collection program is informed by PSI’s how-to guide: Establishing Community Medical Sharps Programs: A Guide for Municipalities, Pharmacies, Health Clinics, and Nonprofits in Oklahoma. The guide, created with grant funding from DEQ, provides step-by-step support for municipalities establishing medical sharps collection programs for residents and will be expanded with lessons learned from the pilot collection programs. Research for the guide highlighted the lack of infrastructure for medical sharps collection and led to this pilot program.
“In addition to the public health and environmental risks, medical sharps that are thrown in the trash can pose a safety hazard to sanitation workers,” said Patrick Riley, environmental programs manager for solid waste and sustainability at the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). “We know that safe collection sites are needed, and this program will demonstrate exactly how they can be operated.”