i use a withdrawing needle to extract B12 from the B12 ampoule .
1) It is Blunt
2 It does not enter my body .
Should this needle also go into the sharps bin?
I ask this because my sharps bins get full quite quickly ,putting the withdrawing needles into them , as well as the injection needle , and it’s always a caper getting rid of the bin to a pharmacy for disposal .
When I sell my house I’m going to leave all my full sharps bins behind…. I have two full ones and a third nearly full, I have no idea where to take them. It seems they will only collect if your doctor prescribes them for you. I buy mine from medichecks with my needles🤣 what a palaver it is…. Oh I put both needles and the empty ampoules in my sharps box.
Normally hospital outpatients departments will take them without question - and will give you a new one!
If you wander in with one and look lost someone will usually come to your rescue! If not the desk people will usually help.
Thanks for that tip ! The hospital is only 12 minutes walk away . I’ll give it a try .
I think there are such varying attitudes to the sharps boxes around the country . I can understand you wanting to leave them behind when you move..By not accepting the sharps boxes , it’s discouraging irresponsible behaviour I know someone who puts used needles in the waste bin . That’s what people will do if they get frustrated .
I put the empty amphouls and both sharps in my bins and then get the council to collect them. As yet I have been asked no questions they simply collect on the specified day. I leave them in a cuboard at the side of my front door. I am injecting daily so you can imagine how quickly they fill up. 💉 👍
I wash out the ampule, and dispose of in glass collection. The plastic sharps bin then lasts much longer……….
Is it really necessary to collect them in a sharps bin? Maybe I'm a Philistine, but I just put the cap back on the needle and throw it in the trash can. The syringe and all plastic parts go into the packaging waste, and the ampules are finally in the bottle bank.
But, well, we Germans are obsessed with separating our trash. 😄
Yes, I put all needles and glass in sharps bin, I do put plastic syringe tops in recycling
My GP accepts my bin and gives me a new one... Only good thing they do 😏
In short...yes.Your council shoukd have a service to collect.
It's just getting to the 'right' department. Which is not always easy.
They check your postcode and get it sorted . Thy shoukd provide a telephone number once satisfied you live in their area.
Hospitals give out local collection service numbers which is wrong as you could live any where.
Money / funding
Wherever you live a service is there.
It's just finding it !!
My husband uses a needle clipper. When full goes in the bin in an enclosed ready made cliper case . Some bits are put with the recycling ( plastic)
So you don't put any of the syringe in the sharps bin ? Can they just go in the recycling bin?
No I never put any of the syringe in the sharps bin . It’s not necessary . The sharps bin is for safety-avoiding stick injuries .
I put my Coaguchek test strips, which are in no way sharp, but are contaminated with my blood, in my sharps box, as I regard them as requiring treating as hazardous medical waste, and this is the only receptacle I have for any such.
Plus my Accuchek Softclix, which are sharp, and B12 used ampoules and needles (likewise), with the cover back on the needle.
But the syringes, which are clean, go out with the black bin (non-recyclable) ordinary rubbish.
Thanks for your info Midnight_Voice
Hi, yes you're correct about disposing of blood contaminated items.I put ampoule and needles in sharps but not the syringe - to save space. As I don't 'draw back ' I feel the syringe is not contaminated.
Thanks!
It’s worth phoning round your local chemists, hopefully there will be one that both provides and accepts sharps boxes. This is usually for community drug services.
My local council only collect if you have been registered with them by your GP. Some local pharmacies & our Morrisons have a needle exchange & will take you clinical waste, some providing a small sharps box. Google 'needle exchange' for your area & you should get a list.
I know all areas are different (I live in Somerset), but our waste collection people run a service where they collect on recycle days and deliver a new one if you wish, all done via their website.
I was told by a nurse to put everything in. So I do. But I don't know what to do with the bin.
Hi, I know it's a pest when bins fill up quickly, but yes, I would definitely class the withdrawing needle as a "sharp " .It could still easily puncture the skin of a refuse collector or other worker, then they have to go through blood tests, injections and worry because they have no way of knowing if it's contaminated with a blood bourne virus like hepatitis HIV etc or not.
That's me with my former nurses hat on 😄 x
Hi WedgewoodSleepbunny sent this link to me. Hopefully it’s helpful
It shouldn’t be this hard to be responsible. I eventually found a chemist that’s part of a exchange scheme.
Ask your Pharmacy.
My experience of ordering B12 1mg/1ml Hydroxocobalimin March 2019
Confused about what should a be concern
First time self injecting
Sharps bins
