JULY 23, 2007, FARMINGVILLE, NY—Brookhaven Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley reports that employees working at the Town of Brookhaven’s Materials Recycling Facility are encountering an increasing number of needles, syringes, lancets and other home-use medical items showing up on the hand-sorted recycling line. The Supervisor strongly encouraged residents to properly dispose of potentially harmful medical waste.
“The safety of hard-working town employees at the recycling facility is of paramount importance to me,” said Supervisor Foley. “I strongly encourage all residents to dispose correctly of potentially dangerous medical waste products.”
Residents who use disposable sharps and medical items at home are reminded that once used, these items become potentially hazardous medical waste products that must be disposed of safely, either through their local hospital, or sealed in appropriate containers and discarded with their regular household garbage, not in their recycling container.
Residents need to be watchful that recyclable containers containing medical waste are not mistakenly placed in their Curby can. These containers must be placed in their regular garbage can so that they can be properly incinerated through the Town’s waste to energy program.
Acceptable containers include:
• Shatterproof, leak-proof, puncture-proof, screw top, hard plastic containers with lids tightly sealed with heavy tape.
• Leak-proof metal (not aluminum) containers with lids tightly sealed with heavy tape.
• Official red sharps containers available at pharmacy chains.
• Do not use glass or clear plastic containers. Glass breaks. Drug abusers can see needles through clear plastic.
Place the sealed container in your regular garbage can, NOT in your recycling can.
In the past, diabetics and others using disposable syringes have been directed to dispose of sharps by placing them in impregnable containers such as lidded cans or bleach bottles and discarding these containers, along with other home medical waste, in their regular garbage.
However, with recycling programs on line, the Town is running into a serious situation with bleach bottles and coffee cans containing sharps showing up on the recycling line.
Recyclables collected from curbside are collected separately from garbage that is incinerated. Recyclables are brought to a specialized facility where they are hand-sorted. When coffee cans or bleach bottles containing medical discards are crushed, the sharps fall out onto the hand-sorting line, posing an immediate danger to the people who are doing the hand-sorting. IV tubing and other home treatment medical equipment also show up on the recycling line.
The town asks that patients please be careful to never place bottles or cans holding medical waste into their recycling containers.
Local hospitals may have a drop-off program. Call for information:
• Brookhaven Memorial Hospital 654-7718
• Mather Memorial Hospital 476-2808
• St. Charles Hospital 474-6000
• University Hospital at Stony Brook 632-6410
• L.I. State Veterans Home (Stony Brook) 444-8790
Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone (631) 451-6955 • Fax (631) 451-6677