Use a take-back, not the toilet
Leftover prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs should go to a pharmacy take-back, a law-enforcement drug take-back, or another official collection. Do not flush pills or pour liquid medicine down the toilet or the sink. Do not crush, burn, or dissolve pills to make them disappear. Those are not safe home methods, and they are not needed when a take-back exists. Keep medicine in its original container if the program allows it, or follow the sign at the drop box about whether they want the vials emptied into a bin. Scratch your name off the label if you are told to leave the bottle, so the prescription is not sitting in a box with your address still readable. Follow the box instructions rather than inventing a prep step.
Sharps and drugs are different trips
A vial of pills is not a sharps container. Needles follow the sharps program. Medicine follows the drug take-back. Do not drop a needle into a medication bin. If you have both, ask each program what it accepts. Inhalers, chemotherapy drugs, and some liquids may be excluded from an ordinary drop box. The sign or the pharmacist will say so. If an item is refused, take it home and ask the household hazardous waste program or the pharmacy about that specific product.
Do not hide medicine in a dump load
A transfer station trash bay is not a drug take-back. Do not bury pill bottles in a bag of household trash to avoid the extra stop. The official box is the disposal path. If you are cleaning out a relative's cabinet, sort by what the take-back sign allows and leave the rest for a pharmacist's instruction. Keep the bag in the trunk, not in a hot car for weeks. Children should not be the ones carrying the bag into the pharmacy.
Before you go
- Find a pharmacy or official medicine take-back and read its rules.
- Do not flush medicine or destroy pills at home.
- Keep sharps out of the medicine bin.
- Take refused items back home and ask a pharmacist or HHW program about those products.
Flushing leftover prescriptions because the take-back box was across town.
Questions people ask
What should I do with the empty orange vials?
Follow the take-back sign. Some boxes take bottles and some ask you to recycle empty vials only if your local recycling program accepts them. Remove personal information from any vial you do not hand over.
Are vitamins included?
Ask the take-back. Many accept over-the-counter drugs. A vitamin bottle is still not something to pour down a drain. If the box refuses it, ask a pharmacist.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.