If medicines help you, make sure they don’t hurt solid waste workers or our environment. Prescriptions medications and needles should not be thrown into the garbage or recycling bin. They require proper disposal.
Palm Beach County residents have FREE opportunities to dispose of prescription medications and needles at many locations countywide. Commercial businesses may have other state and local ordinances or requirements to follow.
For Prescription Medications
Keep prescription medicines out of the hands of strangers, away from our children, and out of our water supply by taking advantage of Operation Pill Drop, a partnership between the SWA, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and many local police departments.
Operation Pill Drop boxes are located throughout Palm Beach County to provide residents easy drop off of unwanted or expired medications. Residents may also call the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office at 561-681-4460 for specific instructions. Until you are ready to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription medications, do your part by making sure they are secure.
Learn more about the Palm Beach County Substance Awareness Coalition’s Prescription Drug Task Force.
For Needles
Used sharps, including syringes with needles, detached needles and disposable lancets, may carry infectious diseases and can pose a danger to solid waste workers or anyone who accidentally comes in contact with them. The SWA does NOT accept sharps or biomedical waste through the trash, in recyclables, or at any Home Chemical and Recycling Center.
To find an appropriate needles drop-off location in Palm Beach County, call Florida Health Palm Beach County at 561-837-5980.
For Businesses
Businesses that generate biomedical waste are regulated by both the Florida Department of Health (DOH) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DOH has primary authority and responsibility for facilities that generate, transport, store or treat biomedical waste through processes other than incineration. The DEP has primary responsibility for biomedical waste incineration and final disposal.
Remember, pollution prevention starts at home. Visit SWA.org/HCRC or call 561-697-2700 or 866-SWA-INFO (toll-free) to learn more about the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County’s Home Chemical and Recycling Centers.
