Sharps Container Disposal

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives these two steps. Step 1 is to put every used needle into a sharps container right after you use it. Step 2 is to follow your community's rules for the full container. Don't reuse a sharps container.

Overfilling a container makes a needle stick more likely, the FDA says. So stop at about three quarters full, even if there is still room.

1. Stop filling at about three quarters full, or at the fill line on the container.
2. Close the lid tightly. For a home container like a detergent bottle, many state guides say to tape the cap with heavy-duty tape.
3. Label it. State guides ask for words like "Sharps" and "Do Not Recycle". Some states ask for more, so check yours.
4. Keep it away from children and pets until you get rid of it.

Do not try to take needles back out. Do not put the container in a recycling bin, the FDA says.

The FDA lists these choices. Which ones you have depends on where you live:

• Drop-off sites: a pharmacy, hospital, doctor's office, health department, medical waste site, or police or fire station. Some are free and some charge a small fee.
• Household hazardous waste sites: places that also take paint, cleaners and motor oil.
• Mail-back programs: certain FDA-cleared containers can be mailed to a disposal site. Most charge a fee. Read more in sharps mail-back programs.
• Special pickup: some places send a worker to collect containers from your home, usually for a fee.

To see the official pages for your county, use the sharps disposal finder.

We looked for the official pages for all 50 states and DC on October 6, 2026. Most were state agency pages. For a few states we could only open a county or city page, and for Kansas we could not open any, so that state is counted as local. Here is how the states sort a sealed sharps container in the household trash. The full rule for each state, with what its official page says, is under that state on the sharps disposal finder. The table links to it:

Out of 51 (the 50 states plus DC):

• Allowed when sealed in a strong container: 27
• Not allowed in household trash: 5 (California, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, Wisconsin)
• No clear statewide rule on the official pages we could open: 19

"Allowed" never means loose needles. Every state page that allows the trash also says the needles must be sealed in a strong container first. Your city or trash hauler can have stricter rules. For example, New Hampshire's guide says some disposal sites do not accept sharps, so ask first.

If an FDA-cleared container is not available, the FDA says some groups and community guides suggest a heavy-duty plastic household container instead, such as a laundry detergent bottle. The FDA lists what any container needs:

• heavy-duty plastic
• a tight, puncture-resistant lid that keeps sharps in
• it stays upright and steady while you use it
• it does not leak
• a label that warns what is inside

For where to buy one or get one free, see where to get a sharps disposal container. Pens with needles count as sharps too. See how to dispose of insulin pens.