Residents can pick up one free container each at the Walgreens located at 27785 Santa Margarita Parkway (phone: (949) 830-2011), to begin participating in the program.

“I have been a self-injector for 10 years and never had a safe way to dispose of needles,” said Gail Reavis, councilmember from Mission Viejo. “Now, with the implementation of the Sharps mail-back program, Mission Viejo residents have a safe and convenient way to dispose of their sharps and the program will help create more awareness of proper disposal.”

In Mission Viejo alone, diabetics and others use thousands of needles every day as part of treatments for chronic medical conditions. Many of these sharps are improperly disposed of and end up in residential trash bins or recycling carts, creating a safety and health risk for children, people in the community and Waste Management workers both on the route and at collection facilities.

To address this issue, the City of Mission Viejo and Waste Management have implemented a convenient Sharps Disposal by Mail System for residents of the city. The Sharps Disposal by Mail System, administered by Waste Management partner Sharps Compliance, Inc., provides individuals a way of disposing of used hypodermic needles, lancets, test strips and other small quantity medical waste. Each system includes a specially designed sharps container and a postage-prepaid shipping container ensuring resident’s medical waste will be delivered safely by the U.S. Postal Service to a certified medical waste facility, where it is destroyed.

Used sharps are placed inside the container for safe storage. When full, the container is closed, bagged and sealed inside its original packaging. Residents then return the postage pre-paid box to their mail carrier or nearest post office.

To obtain a Sharps Disposal by Mail System return package at the Walgreens on Santa Margarita Parkway, residents will need to show proof of residency through either a state-issued identification or utility bill. All Mission Viejo residents can receive one free return box and two additional boxes for a $5 copay each (85 percent off of the retail cost). The cost of the Sharps Disposal by Mail System is subsidized by the City of Mission Viejo.

Mission Viejo is the first city in Orange County to adopt a sharps mail-back program, however it is expected that other cities will follow suit in light of a bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on July 12, 2006. SB1305 prohibits the placement of home-generated sharps in solid waste and recycling containers effective, September 1, 2008.

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America.

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