UHCS offers free and safe disposal of sharps in approved red plastic containers. The State of Massachusetts regulates sharps as medical or biological waste and defines them as follows: Discarded medical articles that may cause punctures or cuts, including but not limited to, all needles, syringes, lancets, pen needles, Pasteur pipettes, broken medical glassware/plasticware, scalpel blades, suture needles, dental wires, and disposable razors used in connection with a medical procedure. Sharps containers should be disposed of when they are 2/3 full.
To arrange to drop off a sharps container:
- Call UHCS at 617.373.2772 and inform the Patient Associate that you need to make arrangements to drop off a sharps container. You will receive a call back from a Registered Nurse within one business day to schedule a time to bring the locked approved sharps container to UHCS.
- Used/full sharps containers cannot be emptied and returned. If needed, UHCS can assist you in obtaining a new sharps container. Sharps containers are also available for purchase at most pharmacies.
- UHCS cannot accept sharps in any container other than an approved sharps container. Campus regulations restrict us from accepting sharps in household containers such as coffee cans, detergent bottles, etc.
For more information about the safe disposal of biohazardous waste, visit Northeastern University’s Environmental Health and Safety Sharps Disposal Fact Sheet.