Medical Waste, Prescriptions, Sharps Disposal

Medical Waste

Stericycle, MedWastePro, and other businesses offer disposal services for sharps and other medical waste.

  • See the Stericycle web site for contact information. To call Stericycle for a quote, 1-855-404-6328.
  • See the MedWastePro website at MedWastePros for contact information. To call MedWastePro for a quote, 1-844-247-6224.

Sharps Disposal

RCW 70A.228.040 prohibits the disposal of sharps containers in recycling or refuse containers.

Residential customers can drop off sharps in appropriate containers locally or subscribe to a mail-back service:

Drop-Off: Sharps (needles and diabetic lancets) are both dangerous and a biological hazard. Proper management is required to prevent injury and the spread of disease. Please use an approved sharps container for needles and lancets. Approved containers are either a purchased sharps disposal container or a heavy-duty plastic container such as a laundry jug that has the cap screwed on and taped shut for dispsoal. Containers of sharps from a RESIDENTIAL USER ONLY, 1 Gallon per residential customer per day limit may be safely disposed of at the Lewis County Central Transfer Station (look for the sharps disposal barrel near the entrance to the Hazo Hut) at 1411 S. Tower Ave., Centralia, and the East Lewis County Transfer Station, 6745 US Hwy. 12, Morton, (look for the sharps disposal barrel in the covered awning across from the scale house).

Mail-Back Program: Stericycle, MedWastePros, and other businesses offer mail-back subscription services where you purchase a sharps container with a pre-paid shipping container and label. To call Stericycle for a quote, 1-855-404-6328. To call MedWastePro for a quote, 1-844-247-6224. Or, you can search other resources online.

Business Customers must arrange with a medical waste company for the pick up of their sharps and medical waste.

Business customers are PROHIBITED from dropping off SHARPS, NEEDLES, LANCETS or OTHER MEDICAL WASTE at the transfer stations. Please contract with a medical waste disposal facility, such as Stericycle, MedWastePro, or other medical waste disposal business.

  • See the Stericycle web site for contact information. To call Stericycle for a quote, 1-855-404-6328.
  • See the MedWastePro website at MedWastePros for contact information. To call MedWastePro for a quote, 1-844-247-6224.

Prescription Medicine Take Back Program for Left-Over Pharmaceuticals

Safe Medication Return is a unified, statewide program that gives Washington residents free, convenient, and environmentally responsible options to dispose of unwanted medication. Drug manufacturers fund the program at no cost to taxpayers. Safe Medication Return is operated by MED-Project, our approved program operator. The Department of Health oversees the establishment of the program, monitors on-going operations, manages enforcement when compliance issues arise, and evaluates program effectiveness.

RCW 69.48 established Washington’s Safe Medication Return program (also known as the Drug Take-Back program). Washington state medicine take-back program. There are several sites in Lewis County. Please click here for the site's location finder.

Please do not flush medications down the toilet, or dispose of them in the trash. Here is a list of items you can include in this program:

  • Prescription medications
  • Non-prescription (over-the-counter medications)
  • Controlled substances (such as OxyContin, Ritalin)
  • Pet medications

Items not included in medicine take back programs

There are many items that are not accepted in a medicine take back program. These include:

  • Herbal remedies
  • Vitamins
  • Supplements
  • Cosmetics
  • Personal care products
  • Aerosols
  • Pet pesticide products
  • Exposed sharps
  • Illicit drugs
  • Medicines from businesses