Disposing of used medical products

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RWHoyle

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Relationship to Diabetes
At risk of diabetes
This may be a perennial on this forum but if so, direct me to previous discussions.

I am testing blood glucose and I am using a prefilled Trulicity pen to inject once a week. I am accumulating a lot of waste - used lancets and test strips and used pens and would welcome advice as to how to dispose of them. The GPs' surgery say it is not their problem, and the chemists who dispense the prescriptions have washed their hands of it, and say that cannot dispose of used consumables.

So - is this a general problem and what do others do? I haven't even mentioned the over-engineered canisters in which the Glucose test strips are supplied.
 
It's patchy and differs from area to area.
I take my sharps bin (with BG strips and lancets in) to my surgery, which doesn't help you at all as yours doesn't. Some local councils do clinical waste disposals - if you call their waste teams, they may be able to advise if they do pick ups or if you can drop them off at their depot, or if they don't do it at all.
The glucose test strip pots, I put in the recycling as they're uncontaminated and plastic. I'm hoping that this is the right thing to do.
 
It is an absolute nightmare, as you say different areas have completely different policies, and some things which you would think would count as clinical waste don't like used catheter bumph. I had a sharps bit to dispose of (a one off) and nowhere would take it, GP, local pharmacy, council as you needed 5 for then to collect, hospital pharmacy as they were not licenced to take them. In the end I put it in a bag and put it in the normal rubbish as it goes for incineration.
My daughter said that at the hospital pharmacy she works at does take then as people were just dumping them any old place on the site.
 
You haven't mentioned the needles you use - if you have a sharps bin for them which is disposed of however, you can always put lancets in that too - but to be honest when I used the lancets with the plastic body, they all had a little cover on the sharp bit, so I rammed that back on very firmly and just chucked em in with the household rubbish, the same place as the empty disposable pens go.

Yes I know they take a million years or something equally ridiculous to degrade once they get to the council tip - but I've always absolutely refused to feel any guilt pangs about that. I have even more non-biodegradable waste now what with the Libre and the pump consumables and their packaging.

Feel guilty for keeping myself alive? - not on your or anyone else's Nellie !
 
I just put used test strip things straight in the bin, finger prick lancets I put in the test strip pots then bin them, tend to use the lance things for at least a week before changing when they get a bit blunt.
Most councils will collect sharps bins though, you should get them free of charge from the supplier of the sharps products as far as I am aware as they are obliged to provide a safe method of disposal if they are supplying them.
 
Test strips - bin, they are no different to a used plaster really although now when I open a new pot I keep the old empty one to put used test strips in to try and stop test strips just floating about the floor lol then when full chuck it in the bin

Lancets - bin, I use Accu-Chek FastClix so there are 6 lancets in a drum and each lancet retracts back into the drum when used so there is nothing sharp on show

Used pre-filled pens - went in the bin when I was on them

I have seen it suggested when no sharps bin has been provided to put used sharps in a drinks bottle or fabric conditioner bottle and dispose of in general waste when full, this was also what a nurse told my mum she could have done for her contraceptive injection sharps if I hadn't had a sharps bin xx
 
Better to use an empty washed out bleach bottle with a childproof lid than an ordinary drinks bottle or fabric conditioner bottle in my opinion.
 
My sharps got made into concrete bricks when I used to test.
Enough alkaline in concrete to kill anything.
Nowadays anything else gets put into the fire pit and incinerated.
 
rebrascora said:
Better to use an empty washed out bleach bottle with a childproof lid than an ordinary drinks bottle or fabric conditioner bottle in my opinion.
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Not everyone uses bleach, more are likely to have a drinks container
 
Kaylz said:
Not everyone uses bleach, more are likely to have a drinks container
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Completely agree. I avoid using bleach as I do like the impact it has on the environment.
Like your Mum, I was advised to use a drinks or fabric softener bottle for sharps and was only prescribed a sharps ben when I got a pump about 6 years ago.
 
helli said:
Completely agree. I avoid using bleach as I do like the impact it has on the environment.
Like your Mum, I was advised to use a drinks or fabric softener bottle for sharps and was only prescribed a sharps ben when I got a pump about 6 years ago.
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When mum started using the self administered contraceptive injection the nurse said to her you can just use Kayleigh's sharps bin but told her that others doing the switch were being told to use drinks or fabric softener bottles as they weren't supplying everyone with a small sharps bin, no point when it's one needle every 13 weeks, I always recap them anyway so not like they would do any damage to anyone, many don't use bleach for various reasons xx
 
Mt test strips and needles go into a fizzy drinks bottle and into the bin with the lid tightly screwed on. Novorapid pens into free post package back to Novo to recycle
 
John D M said:
Mt test strips and needles go into a fizzy drinks bottle and into the bin with the lid tightly screwed on. Novorapid pens into free post package back to Novo to recycle
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It is good that you send them back to recycle but have you ever asked about reuseable pens and then just get cartridges. There are other advantages to the reuseable pens like the cartridges take up less space in the fridge, the pens have a memory facility for those "Did I, didn't I inject?" moments and obviously less plastic waste as well as the reuseable pens being a really nice quality and weight.
 
I have thought about cartridges but have never got around to asking the GP about making a change and I’d value the memory bit to make the discipline of re-testing at a suitable moment after bolus a little easier.

Also I’ve no idea whether needle caps are recyclable or not but am guessing you’d need a lot of them to equal the waste of not recycling something like a car tyre
 
John D M said:
Also I’ve no idea whether needle caps are recyclable or not but am guessing you’d need a lot of them to equal the waste of not recycling something like a car tyre
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I have no idea if the needle caps are recyclable either and it will likely depend upon local limitations. I know our recycling plant likes you to put bottle tops back on rather than loose which I believe is due to them fouling up the machinery/conveyors with them being small, so I would imagine needle caps would cause a similar issue and they don't like you to put items within items for recycling, so it would not be a good plan to put them in a drinks bottle for instance for recycling. And of course there is nothing on the caps to tell you if they are recyclable. It is the same with Freestyle Libre applicators. I dismantle them and remove the needle and put it in my shapesafe and the metal spring goes for recycling but all the plastic currently goes into household waste which causes me some anguish.
 
rebrascora said:
It is good that you send them back to recycle but have you ever asked about reuseable pens and then just get cartridges. There are other advantages to the reuseable pens like the cartridges take up less space in the fridge, the pens have a memory facility for those "Did I, didn't I inject?" moments and obviously less plastic waste as well as the reuseable pens being a really nice quality and weight.
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I recently had to use a disposable pen while in hospital. I'd forgotten how clumsy, flimsy and fiddly they could be. There is something remarkably satisfying about injecting with a quality pen system; seems stupid to say, but ....
 
rebrascora said:
all the plastic currently goes into household waste which causes me some anguish.
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Doesn't cause me any anguish - like I said recently I vehemently refuse to accept any guilt for keeping myself alive. It is absolutely not me or you responsible for the pollution cause by the non recyclable crap they make money from selling, it is the manufacturer thereof and as long as their product is a brass farthing cheaper than the next one which might actually be made by a gang with more ethical standards, we know damn well the NHS will save the brass farthing and shrug.
 
trophywench said:
Doesn't cause me any anguish - like I said recently I vehemently refuse to accept any guilt for keeping myself alive. It is absolutely not me or you responsible for the pollution cause by the non recyclable crap they make money from selling, it is the manufacturer thereof and as long as their product is a brass farthing cheaper than the next one which might actually be made by a gang with more ethical standards, we know damn well the NHS will save the brass farthing and shrug.
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I do like your posts Jenny, no nonsense and direct! Great stuff, my thoughts are the same.
 
trophywench said:
y I vehemently refuse to accept any guilt for keeping myself alive.
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Likewise, but I still chose to do so with as little impact as possible.
Fir example, I am conscious of the cost of my life saving treatment and the cost to a cash strapped NHS so do not waste it. Where I can chose, I opt for the more environmentally friendly options such as reusable pens rather than single use ones. Where possible, I minimise waste and maximise recycling.
As you say, there are some things we need to keep ourselves alive so I feel no guilt for them. That does not mean waste.
 
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