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Safe, Free Disposal Of Medicines And Sharps

The UCSC Student Health Center Pharmacy offers safe and free disposal of your unused and expired medications, as well as household sharps (in approved sharps containers).

The Sharps Solution program is administered through a county grant with help from Ecology Action. It's free and available to students, staff, and faculty. This program helps protect the environment by reducing the number of chemicals and sharps that end up in sewers and landfills. It also improves safety at home, especially for children, pets, and the elderly.

Unwanted Medicine Disposal

What Items Can I Dispose of at a Kiosk?

You may dispose of medications in any dosage form, except for those specifically listed as Not Accepted, by placing them in their original container or in a sealed plastic bag.

Before You Dispose:

  • Combine all pills into a single sealed plastic bag to save space

  • Recycle empty pill bottles and any leftover packaging

  • Leave liquid medicines in their original containers

  • Remove or mark out personal information on all labels

  • Separate and remove any items that are not accepted

How to Dispose:

Drop off your prepared items in the pharmacy’s medicine disposal bin.

Not Accepted:
Herbal remedies, vitamins, supplements, cosmetics, other personal care products, medical devices, batteries, mercury-containing thermometers, sharps, illicit or illegal drugs, pet pesticide products, animal medicines, biologics (such as insulin).

Sharps Disposal

Sharps include hypodermic needles, syringes, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, broken medication glass (such as ampoules), scalpels, and suture needles.

How to Dispose:

  • Put all sharps in an approved red plastic sharps container

  • Sharps containers are available to students free of charge at the pharmacy

  • Place the sealed, approved sharps container in the red sharps disposal receptacle located near the pharmacy

Important:
By law, all sharps must be disposed of in approved sharps containers. Sharps are not allowed in trash or landfills, even when contained.