Sharps and Syringe Disposal

Never put any sharps, syringes, or hypodermic needles in your garbage or recycling bin. Never flush needles or sharps down the toilet or sink.

Used needles and sharps should be collected in an approved yellow sharps container (1.4L or 4.5L) available free of charge from your pharmacist. Filled containers must be returned to the pharmacy for proper disposal.

The Ontario Sharps Collection Program is a stewardship program for the Province of Ontario that promotes the safe and easy disposal of sharps. Please refer to the Ontario Sharps Collection Program at www.healthsteward.ca.

If needles/sharps are found in your garbage or recycling, your waste collection will be suspended. Syringes and sharps are not accepted at the Household Chemical Waste Facility.

Improper disposal puts waste collectors, municipal workers, janitors, housekeepers, household members, children and pets at risk of being harmed.

If you find a needle on the public right-of-way, please contact 311 with the exact location, and Public Works Department, Environmental Division will send someone out to pick up the needle. It is recommended that you safely contain the needle in a container until the Public Works Department arrives, if you are able to do so (e.g. in an empty water bottle or empty jar).

City of Windsor - Sharps Disposal Bin Project

Background

The City of Windsor has installed 7 outdoor sharps disposal bins. Sharps are any object or item that is able to abrade, cut or puncture the skin. These items include but are not limited to:

  • Hypodermic needles;
  • Syringes;
  • Lancets;
  • Intra-venous lines;
  • Scalpel blades;
  • Broken glass;
  • Sharp edge metals;
  • Knives;
  • Razor blades; and
  • Any other item that may lacerate or puncture the skin and that may have been contaminated by bloods or bodily fluids

Many community agencies and organizations provided valuable insight and information to assist in determining the type of bin to purchase and where to install for maximum impact. This project was truly a collaborative effort.

Locations: 24-hour sharps disposal bins

You can drop off your used sharps at any 24-hour sharps disposal bins located outdoors at:

  1. Bruce Park - east side of park facing Church Street
  2. Wigle Park - west side of park near McDougall
  3. Glengarry/Marentette Neighbourhood - interior courtyard
  4. Senator Croll Park - close to Ontario Tourist Information Centre - west side facing Goyeau
  5. Downtown Transit Terminal - facing Chatham Street
  6. Ford City Parkette - corner of Whelpton and Drouillard
  7. Dufferin Place - Behind Windsor Fire Headquarters
  8. AIDS Committee of Windsor - 511 Pelissier
  9. Street Health - 711 Pelissier
  10. Windsor Essex County Health Unit Parking Lot - north of Erie Street and Pelissier
  11. Windsor Essex County Health Unit Parking Lot - north of Erie Street, in between Goyeau and Dufferin

Safety

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, gloves (puncture resistant/leather faced - cotton gloves do not protect against punctures or cuts), respiratory masks, aprons, gowns, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection.

If using disposable gloves, remove them using the inside-out method: start at the bottom of your hand palm roll them up from the inside so the outside glove is not exposed, wash your hands with soap and water, and place gloves in a sealed plastic bag marked "Biological Waste". If plastic bags are not readily available, then dispose of the rolled up contaminated gloves in the sharps container.

  1. Approved Sharps Container: A hard yellow plastic or metal leak-proof container marked with the international biohazard symbol and appropriate wording;
  2. Empty bottle or can (pop can, water bottle, for example) if approved container is unavailable;
  3. Wherever possible, use mechanical means to assist you with the collection. Use items such as pliers, brush and dustpan, tongs, tweezers, or forceps as a protective barrier between you and the sharp;
  4. Hold needle tips and sharps edges away from you;
  5. If there is more than one sharp, pick them up one at a time;
  6. Do not allow sharps to touch or prick your skin;
  7. Put sharps in an approved sharps container, bringing the container to the sharp, not the sharp to the container;
  8. Do not try to recap a needle or reinsert it into its original container;
  9. Place exposed sharps in the sharps container with the needle tip or sharp edges pointing down and away from you;
  10. If possible close the top of the sharps container on a flat surface;
  11. Close and secure the puncture proof lid or seal on the sharps container

Public Works, Environmental Division
3540 North Service Road East
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N8W 5X2

Phone: For general information, call 311. For detailed inquiries, call 519-974-2277 ext. 3121.
Fax: 519-944-3161
Email: pubwork@citywindsor.ca