what, please, does everyone do with used needles (lancets)?

[maryanne]

Pretty please, what does everyone do with their used needles (lancets)? Do you all have a sharps box? Is it emptied by their local council and is the box replaced? Or do you have to keep buying new ones? Do you put them in the normal bin and is it allowed. Do you have to notify the council and keep the needles separate? Or what please do you all do.
I have bought ,myself, a blood sugar monitor but, l have not as yet used it as l do not know what to do with the needles. My husband used to be a kidney patient and dialyzed at home. The waste was collected by the council in a separate collection and had to be in special yellow bin bags including the needles and syringes and was then sent to the hospital renal units special disposable unit. Our council was informed by the hospital so no problems for us.
Very sorry if this is a silly question but l honestly do not know what to do and thought you good people were the best ones to ask.
Apologize for the long post

 

[Pine Marten]

Hi @maryanne, I don't test half as much as I used to but I've always put the used lancets in the little plastic pot they came in. Then when that's full it goes in the normal waste bin and finds its way eventually to the dustbin.

 

[maryanne]

Thank you Pine Marten that sounds like a good idea. I think l shall do the same

 

[helli]

@maryanne - this is not a silly question.
It is one of those things that confuse many of us because every area does it differently.
I think the most common approach is that the council collects the waste but I recommend asking at your GP surgery and/or local pharmacy.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Is it emptied by their local council and is the box replaced?

It varies. In my area the sharps box is prescribed, and is collected by the local authority (I have to ask them to do that). In other areas there may be slightly different approaches (where you can take the sharps container to the hospital or pharmacist, etc.).

 

[Becka]

You should not put them in household waste, if they come loose in the bin bag they put people at risk. I do not think that is a legal requirement at home, not putting them in general waste, though it is for any public or work place. Even if you only test your levels at work, your employer is required to provide a sharps bin and hen full to dispose of it properly.

Those of us who are prescribed a glucometer will also be able to order sharps bins on prescription, but if you are paying for your own testing then you could still try asking your surgery if they will allow one. They cost the N.H.S. less than a pound, and for lancets alone a 1L bin takes ages to fill. They may not support you testing, but they should still support responsible disposal. Otherwise you can buy your own quite easily, though the retail prices is a few pounds. I had to buy my own to have a travel-sized one for needles when visiting my dad.

Councils are required to collect sharps bins, but the process is different everywhere. With some it is as easy as just telling them to come and collect one, others quite stupidly require you to ask a G.P. to request it. I guess they would just prefer people who are not prescribed needles to dispose of them willy-nilly across their boroughs? You would need to check with your council to find out what the process is where you live, but it is usually explained on the waste collection section of their websites.

In my case, I just let them pile up on the edge of the bath as I have no idea what to do! My council is one of the stupid ones, but I used to be able to just drop them off at the surgery who would then dispose of them. But because of Covid I could not visit while I was shielding. When I have since been there in person everything is now behind a screen that they probably do not take them any more. And I keep forgetting to ask!

 

[Stitch147]

I've got a sharps bin that I collected from my local health centre, same place I go for eye screening. I just take it back there when it's full and the give a replacement.

 

[pm133]

Mine go in an empty plastic water bottle and then when full, the entire thing is dumped in my general waste bin.

That is the advice from the Diabetes Centre nurses in my local area - both in written and oral form and on Youtube videos that they have produced.

Personally, I'm surprised by that

 

[Sally71]

We just ask for a new yellow bin on prescription and then take it to the GP surgery when it’s full. Now things are opening up a bit again they will take them as long as you’ve sealed the lid down. We are pumping so only have to put the cannula needles and cartridge filler bits in, and it takes at least a year to fill a 1L box. We have multiclix lancets which are in drums so just chuck them in the bin as there are no sharp bits sticking out.

My mum on the other hand has been diabetic for 54 years and has never had a sharps bin in her life, I guess she just chucks hers in the bin but I never think to ask whether she wraps them in anything else first!

 

[Pine Marten]

I've never been instructed what to do (I've only read it on here in one or two threads), but I've just googled pictures of sharps bins and they are ginormous! It would take me an awfully long time to fill one with my tiny lancets (which I used to change on St Swithin's Day).

Just asking... what is the danger of putting them in the dustbin - is it the sharp point? My little pots have quite firm lids so I doubt they would come undone in a refuse bag that is then put in the dustbin. And you would put plasters in the bin so it can't be the microscopic dab of blood...?

 

[Sally71]

I guess because if you get stabbed with someone else’s used needle you are then terrified that you might get HIV, hepatitis, or any number of other nasties. The fact that none of us have any of those things is probably irrelevant. However, round here we put our rubbish into wheelie bins, which are then hooked onto the back of the bin lorry which lifts them up and tips all the rubbish inside, and is then presumably emptied out again at the landfill site and moved around by more special vehicles if necessary. Does anyone actually get close enough to other people’s rubbish to touch it by hand? In which case why indeed does it matter?

 

[Leadinglights]

When I worked at a University our clinical waste was collected by the Council but they manhandled the bags from the special waste skip into a truck. The bags supplied were so thin we had to double bag the waste so they didn't split.
They were supposed to collect the sharps bins also but that didn't always happen.
Most lancets don't leave anything sharp sticking out anyway, so should be safe in the normal bin.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

I was given a yellow bin by my diabetes team with two different shaped holes at the top and a lid. I put all my test strips and lancets in that. When it is full I will seal it shut and then ask the council to collect it as medical waste.

 

[Becka]

Do not use other bins

Do not put used needles or other sharps in:

• any type of household bin (for example, a general rubbish bin or a recycling bin)
  
  
• a container that's no longer needed, such as a drinks can or bottle

Needles can cause injuries. Used needles can carry blood-borne viruses that may be passed on to other people.

Request clinical waste collection

Arrange for a collection of clinical waste - for items like used syringes, drugs, pharmaceuticals and surgical waste

www.nhs.uk

And a few years old, and seems to be based on commercial settings, but:

Did you know?

1,833 incident claims for needlestick injuries were received by NHS Resolution between 2012 - 2017 (fiscal years).

Of these, the 1,213 successful claims cost the NHS £4,077,441. The figure could be higher as 326 claims remain open.

Preventing needlestick injuries - NHS Resolution

We received 2,600 claims for needlestick injuries for incidents occurring between 2012 – 2022. Needlestick injuries can be costly to investigate and increase the risk blood-borne infections. Fortunately, the harm and cost of most needlestick injuries are largely avoidable. We’ve created two new...

resolution.nhs.uk

 

[VickyHW]

When I had gestational diabetes and was injecting my midwife told me to burn the needles and lancets in our wood burner. I thought this would make a horrid mess but it didn’t seem to although I don’t like to think of the pollutants that likely went up the chimney!

 

[helli]

I've just googled pictures of sharps bins and they are ginormous

There are different size sharp bins.
I usually have a 1 litre bin which is only ginormous to a gnat.

 

[nonethewiser]

Needles lancets go in sharps bin then hand it over to gp surgery to dispose, all they request is to sign prescription label before handover.

 

[Lucyr]

I was given a yellow bin by my diabetes team with two different shaped holes at the top and a lid. I put all my test strips and lancets in that. When it is full I will seal it shut and then ask the council to collect it as medical waste.

You don’t need to put the test strips in the sharps box because they are not sharp.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

You don’t need to put the test strips in the sharps box because they are not sharp.

I was told to by my diabetes nurse and I use so few of the sharps that if I didn't put the strips in it would take years and years to fill up.

 

[Ljc]

I don’t finger bodge often as I use the Libre . But I buy Accu chek fast clix lancets
You will need to buy it’s lancing device too.
I only buy a box at time as I hardly use them
Each drum contains 6 lancets in which when used are fully enclosed , so imo they can go in the general waste bin
I prefer these as I find they are virtually painless. Sadly my Gp won’t prescribe them yet but I’m working on it lol

Sometimes boots have them on special offer as if self funding they are not cheap

Test strips go I. General waste too, as they are no different to a used plaster.