Illinois city launches sharps disposal program

The city of Naperville, Illinois, is launching the Naperville Residential Sharps Disposal Program to provide residents with free and easy disposal of medical needles.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) funds the program through the Residential Sharps Collection Program, which provided a grant to Naperville not exceeding $35,000.

“Our sharps disposal program is accessible, helps keep residents and sanitation workers safe and is environmentally friendly,” Naperville Fire Department Division Chief Scott Salela says. “This program is an important supplement to our Prescription Drug Drop Box Program that has provided residents with a way to dispose of unused medication for over a decade. We thank the IEPA for this generous grant to establish the Naperville residential sharps disposal program—it’s an investment in the health and safety of our community.”

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Starting Jan. 2, 2024, and lasting through June 30, 2024, Naperville residents may pick up sharps collection containers by visiting the Naperville Fire Department Administration Center at 1380 Aurora Ave., from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

The sharps containers are quart size and can hold about 36 syringes that are 1 cubic centimeter, the most common needle size. Bannockburn, Illinois-based Stericycle Inc. is the sharps container manufacturer, and workers at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility can only accept properly secured Stericycle containers for disposal.

Residents may dispose of the sealed sharps containers at the HHW facility located at 156 Fort Hill Drive on the weekends between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. HHW crews will accept the sharps containers and place them into a larger container, which Stericycle will collect for disposal when full.

This program will not accept sharps from businesses and is only for Naperville residents.