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Quick question - used Lancets and strips

M

MadMat

Well-Known Member
Messages
123
My new SD Monitor arrived today, and after doing a quick test to check it all works I'm left wondering what is the correct way of disposing of used Lancets and strips?

Can they go in domestic rubbish or do I need to do something special with them ?

Mat
 
I brought a sharps bin through ebay and put my used lancets and strips in there. I think some people get bins through their chemist who then takes the full bins in. Otherwise I presume the local council may have arrangements for disposal of sharps.
 
I get my sharps boxes on prescription; disposal will vary depending on your location (I have to call the council to have mine collected, others return them to the pharmacy or their GP's surgery). I am not aware of any restrictions re disposal of sensor strips.
 
Sarah69 said:
I put all mine in the household bin.
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:shock: In the bin? But sharps aren't household waste Sarah!
 
It seems to differ in each area. When I lived in Newcastle I would get a sharps box on prescription. I now live in Surrey and have to phone the council who deliver a box and pick up any full boxes that I have. If you ask you GP they will be able to tell you what you need to do.

Em
 
I can't see how used lancets cannot be household waste. It is strongly recommended that used sanitary wear and condoms are put in household waste, so why not. On the rare occasion I change mine, I put the little plastic top from the new one, on the old one. No idea why, just habit.
Gone are the days when dustbin men were lugging bins around on their shoulders and risking all sorts of injury and exposure.

wiflib
 
Actually our dustmen will only collect rubbish in black sacks - no wheely bins etc here! So putting sharps in the bin does risk exposing them to getting jabbed !!

Mat
 
I can't see how used lancets cannot be household waste
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With respect, that's irrelevant. Whether or not you can see the point of some regulation doesn't change anything.
It is strongly recommended that used sanitary wear and condoms are put in household waste, so why not.
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Because condoms don't have sharp bits to break the skin (a marvellous invention to keep bacteria and stuff out)?

Gone are the days when dustbin men were lugging bins around on their shoulders and risking all sorts of injury and exposure.
Click to expand...
In my area, household waste bags are put out (usually and illegally) the evening before collection days onto the public pavement where they're subsequently torn apart by seagulls. It would be very easy indeed for some used needles to fall out and e.g. be picked up by a child.
 
wiflib said:
I put the little plastic top from the new one, on the old one
Click to expand...

I do the same. I've been saving them up in a plastic bottle as I don't know what to do with them. As I don't get them on prescription I didn't think the chemist would provide anything for their disposal. The bottle is nowhere near full yet.
 
I had a sharps bin on prescription when I first got my meter but I was never told what to do with it when it was full. My OH works at a hospital, so when I remember, I give them to him to put in the sharps bin at work (I'm terrible at remembering to do this so have quite a lot at home).

I also put the little 'hat' on mine and I think they are quite harmless like that, its not like they are syringe needles. The likelyhood of a bin man getting an infection from them is minute.

I was thinking of putting them in an empty 4 pint milk bottle and putting the lid on and putting them in the bin. We have large wheely bins, so the rubbish isn't touched by the bin men, but I would have thought inside a bottle, in a bin bag, the seagulls would have a hard job getting to them.
 
Hmmm. Very much each to their own then, personally I wouldn't dream of putting sharps of any kind be it lancets or needles from syringes into household waste whether covered or not.

In that respect I am lucky, I still have 2 sharps bins from when my daughter was here and I use them, fairly sure the GP surgery will accept them for collection.

It's funny there are no actual guidelines on this type of thing. Maybe individual boroughs/councils have their own rules as to what constitutes household waste?
 
I bought my meter and paid £1 for a small sharps bin at the same time. I put my test strips and lancets in the bin, once I have put the lid back on. When I got the bin the pharmacist told me that the local council come and collect them when they are full as our surgery isnt allowed to collect them anymore.
 
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