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lancets disposal

licklemoose

Well-Known Member
Messages
315
Location
swindon
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
the heat
where do you dispose of lancets and test strips?
at the moment im using an old tablet bottle to put them in
should i take them to chemist once full or just put in the bin?
 
I wait until I have a goodly number, steam them and re-use them.
 
Squire Fulwood said:
I wait until I have a goodly number, steam them and re-use them.
Click to expand...
mine are on prescription at the moment until the nurse tells the dr im not allowed to test
im too clumsy to reuse as id last up stabbing myself more than once lol
 
licklemoose said:
where do you dispose of lancets and test strips?
at the moment im using an old tablet bottle to put them in
should i take them to chemist once full or just put in the bin?
Click to expand...
licklemoose: I use a small container with a childproof lid for my used test strips and lancets ( with the safety covers replaced), place it in a strong re-seal bag and dispose of it with my ordinary rubbish. Our waste is incinerated by the council.
 
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licklemoose said:
where do you dispose of lancets and test strips?
at the moment im using an old tablet bottle to put them in
should i take them to chemist once full or just put in the bin?
Click to expand...
When I had a nail gun type lancing device with single use lancets, I saved them in a container and took them to the Sisters at my GP's treatment room and give them to the them to get rid of in their sharps bin.

I now use a Accu-Chek Multiclix lancing device with a disposable six lancet drum which I throw in the bin when all six are used up.
 
When I was using separate strips I put them in a plastic tub with a lid and they went in household rubbish. (The plastic tub was the one the new strips came in. I took the label off) I use the Fastclix pen and drums, so no problem.
 
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I only use about 1 every month or so just put them in the old test strip box along with my used test strips seal the box and put them in the rubbish bin.
 
licklemoose said:
where do you dispose of lancets and test strips?
at the moment im using an old tablet bottle to put them in
should i take them to chemist once full or just put in the bin?
Click to expand...

Test strips just go in with the rubbish and lancets in a sharps bin, you can get sharp bin on prescription from your gp or buy them on the likes of Amazon/eBay, either your pharmacy, gp surgery or local council will take the sharps bin from you once it is full.
 
@licklemoose - I get on prescription a Sharpes Bin and put lancets, test strips, used needles and Insulin pens in it. Then ring my local council to arrange a collection date.
 
I get sharps bins free from my GP. (not on prescription AFAIK).
Put all my pen needles and lancets in and then take it to them to dispose of with their sharps and swap for a new sharps bin.
Testing strips go in the household/work general waste bin.
 
I think it's fine to just put test strips in the bin that's what I've always done. The only thing you can't put in the bin are needles well in the uk. Dunno how it works with lancets. (We've always thrown them away too) and we've never had any trouble with it.
 
Test strips definitely in the bin without any trouble.
Lancet disposal seems to depend where you live. Some people find it easy to get (and dispose of) sharps containers. Others can only get them if their Dr has prescribed a BG meter.
However, when I was first diagnosed with t1, I was told to put the cap back on my sharps, place them in an old plastic drinks bottle, seal well and throw them in the rubbish.
This may not be perfect but I am no more comfortable with a sharps container which my council tell me to put on the pavement outside my house the night before they collect it at 5am. It may be sealed but I live in an exposed street and things can get blown around on a windy day (or night) so I would not be surprised to find it blown about and then driven over scattering sharps across the road.
 
I stab used lancets for my One Touch Verio firmly into their original plastic ends and just bin them along with strips. Don't think I'm breaking any laws. Still, maybe I should be more considerate in future...
 
As I inject victoza, I an issued with I yellow needle box thingy which when full with my needles from victoza and lancets, I take to my surgery to dispose off.
Prior taking victoza, I put my lancets and used test strips in an empty test strip tub and put into my rubbish bin
 
I bend the small needle on my lancets and put them in the bin with my test strips as my house hold rubbish is burned by the council i did ask at my gp about sharps they said only give boxes to tp1 but if i wanted to buy my own i could but would charge me to dispose of them for me practice policy as testing is not needed for t2.
 
I was diagnosed T2 in October last year and decided to buy my own test kit. Just as well as when I showed the results to my diabetic nurse, she retested and I am now diagnosed T1, and insulin dependant. Did not have been picked up had I not bitten the bullet and paid for my own test kit, strips, etc. Now it's available to me via the NHS.
 
So what are you going to do with your needles, lancets, strips etc. to keep the thread on topic.

Did the DN give you a Sharps container for them?
 
Sharp things like syringes, needles, lancets, infusion sets, connection needles can puncture or cut skin. So they are to be disposed of in a responsible and mature manner. Lancets or the “fingerstick” commonly used for diabetic patients should first be placed immediately in a sharps disposal container. Check with pharmacies, medical supply companies or health care providers for FDA cleared sharps containers. They are puncture resistant and has got a tight lid. If they are not available stick to the laundry detergent container.
Unsafe disposal may injure people and pets, spread infections like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV.
Commercial junk removal in Ontario cautions that never place loose needles or sharps in household trash or bins or recycling bins. Never flush them down, which might lead trash, sewage, janitors, housekeepers, household members, and children at risk. Same with pet owners after using them.
 
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