It is estimated that over 3 billion disposable needles and syringes and an additional 900 million lancets (collectively called “medical sharps”) enter the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream each year in the United States from two main sources: those managing their own health care at home by self-injecting medication (representing two-thirds of the needles used) and intravenous drug users. People living with diabetes generate a majority of these sharps, while the remainder is used by people treating themselves for a wide variety of other medical conditions as well as injection drug users. As self injection of medications becomes an increasingly popular mechanism for drug delivery, the number of home medical sharps is expected to increase significantly. Self-injectors routinely discard medical sharps in MSW generated in homes and in public settings, recycling bins (in plastic containers), and down toilets.
