Less Is More - Santa Barbara County

Multi-Jurisdictional Solid Waste Task Group

County Programs

Sharps Collection Program

Home Generated Sharps (HGS) are needles, syringes with needles, and disposable lancets. Improper disposal of HGS is a health and safety threat to children, home health care providers, sanitation workers, and pets through accidental "stick" injuries.

Effective on or after September 1, 2008, no person in California shall knowingly place home generated sharps waste in:

Any container used for the collection of solid waste, recyclable materials, or green waste from residences or business establishments; and

Any roll-off container used for the collection of solid waste, construction and demolition debris, green waste, or other recyclable materials.

Also, as of this date, home generated sharps shall only be transported in a sharps container or other containers approved by an enforcement agency and shall only be managed at:

A household hazardous waste facility;

A medical waste generator's facility;

A facility through the use of a medical waste mail-back container approved by the California Department of Health Services;

A home generated sharps consolidation point.

How should I dispose of my sharps?
Effective September 1, 2008, it is illegal to place home-generated sharps in the trash or in any type of recycling bin (including those for green waste and construction and demolition debris). HGS must be disposed of at an approved facility (such as a hospital, clinic, pharmacy, or household hazardous waste collection center) or through an approved mail-back program. In addition, sharps should only be transported in an approved container that is rigid and puncture resistant. These containers are leak-proof, red in color, and constructed of rigid, thick-walled plastic with a biohazards label. Sharps containers should only be filled three quarters full before being sealed for disposal.

Coffee cans, aluminum beverage containers, plastic milk jugs, and other like containers are NOT appropriate containers for the storage of shaprs and cannot be accepted. You should never dispose of your HGS or sharps containers in the regular trash.

Please remember the following:

Immediately after use, place sharps in the collection container, point facing downward;

Do not attempt to bend or break the needle or syringe;

Do not put the cap back on the needle;

Keep all sharps and disposal containers out of the reach of children.

Where can I obtain a sharps container?
Sharps containers can be obtained for free at any of the locations listed below, while supplies last.

Where can I take my sharps container once its is full?
The locations listed below will accept full HGS collection containers from households in Santa Barbara County. You will not be charged for disposal. Please call the collection facility prior to your arrival to confirm its address and operating hours. Never leave sharps containers at a collection facility after its operating hours.

How many sharps containers may I dispose of?
Households are limited to disposing of no more than two sharps containers per visit (maximum of one visit per week). Hospitals, clinics, medical practices, pathology labs, convalescent homes, group homes, nursing facilities, hospices, and veterinarian hospitals are not eligible to use this program. Each collection facility reserves the right to refuse to accept sharps.

The following County facilities accept home-generated sharps waste, such as hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications derived from a household, including a multi-family household:

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Carpinteria Clinic
931 Walnut Avenue
Carpinteria, CA 93013
(805) 560-1050
Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Lompoc Clinic
301 North "R" Street
Lompoc, CA 93436
(805) 737-6488
Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Santa Barbara Clinic
315 Camino Del Remedio, Room 117
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
(805) 681-5380
Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Franklin Clinic
1136 East Montecito Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
(805) 568-2099
Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Santa Maria Clinic
2115 South Centerpointe Parkway
Santa Maria, CA 93455
(805) 346-8421
Operating hours: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

If you would like to view a brochure that contains all of this information in English and Spanish, please click on this link: Final Sharps Brochure.pdf
T o obtain a copy of this brochure, please call the County Public Works Department, Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, at (805) 882-3615. In addition to the County of Santa Barbara, this program is cosponsored by the Cities of Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Solvang.

Here are some additional facilities that accept HGS in Santa Barbara County:

Caldwell Pharmacy
235 West Pueblo Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 682-7353
(Open Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; a $5.00 disposal fee is charged per container)

City of Santa Maria Household Hazardous Waste Facility
2065 East Main Street
Santa Maria, CA 93454
(805) 925-0951, ext. 7270
Operating hours: Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Marian Medical Center
Environmental Health Department
1400 East Church Street
Santa Maria, CA 93454
(805) 739-3675
Operating hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Call ahead to arrange a drop-off time.

Safety Kleen
5310 Overpass Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 967-1448
(Can purchase a container for the collection of sharps and then ship the container with the sharps back to the company for free.)

Waste Management/Health Sanitation Service
(877) 927-8363 (WASTEMD)
In conjunction with Becton, Dickinson and Company and Sharps Compliance, Inc., Waste Management has established a Sharps Disposal by Mail System. A household that purchases this system will receive a sharps container, a postage paid box, and a tracking form. The sharps containers come in single, double, or triple packs that can hold from 60 to 1,500 sharps. A household collects its used sharps in the container and seals the sharps in the container's packaging once it is full. The household then mails the box to the nearest processing center, where the sharps container and the packaging are destroyed. The household will then receive confirmation of the receipt of the container and the destruction of its contents.

Here are some facilities outside Santa Barbara County that accept HGS:

Asbury Environmental Services
2100 North Alameda Street
Compton, CA 90222
(800) 974-4495

Cintas/Response First Aid Systems
737 North Main Street
Orange, CA 92868
(877) 973-2811
(Can purchase a container for the collection of sharps and then ship the container with the sharps back to the company for free.)

Below are some programs approved by the California Department of Public Health for the disposal of sharps by mail:

EnviroMed Safety and Compliance
www.enviromedinc.com
(877) 340-2430

GRP and Associates
www.sharpsdisposal.com
(800) 207-0976

Medasend, Inc.
www.medasend.com
(800) 200-3581

Sharps Compliance, Inc.
SCI Mail Sharps Disposal System
www.sharpsinc.com
(800) 772-5657

Stericycle, Inc.
Sharps Mail-Back Service
www.stericycle.com
(800) 355-8773

WCM (Waste and Compliance Management, Inc.)
www.wcminc.net
(866) 436-9264

XMED Disposal, Inc.
www.xmeddisposal.com
(866) 735-9709

For more information, please contact the County Public Works Department, Resource Recovery & Waste Management Division, at (805) 882-3615.

Last updated: March 26, 2009

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