(510) 609-1215
California has industry-run statewide stewardship programs that provide safe and convenient disposal options for pharmaceutical and home-generated sharps waste at no cost to the consumer.
How to Safely Dispose of Unwanted Household Medications
Don’t flush your drugs! Flushing unwanted and expired medications down the toilet is the least desirable of all disposal alternatives. Wastewater treatment facilities are not equipped to remove all traces of pharmaceutical chemicals. If you flush your drugs, a portion of those contaminants will reach local waters. Scientific studies show the chemicals in many drugs can harm aquatic life. Proper disposal of unwanted medications helps protect your family, your community and the environment.
The best way to dispose of your unwanted or expired household medicine and/or prescription drugs is at a hazardous waste facility, drop-off or take-back program.
West Contra Costa residents may drop-off unwanted or expired medicine for free at the below listed locations.
Drop Off Locations in West Contra Costa
- Pinole Police Station: 880 Tennent Avenue, Pinole;
Lobby hours: 8am – 5pm Mon – Fri - West County Wastewater District Office: 2910 Hilltop Drive, Richmond;
Lobby hours: 8am – 5pm Mon – Fri, closed 12pm – 1pm - El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center: 7501 Schmidt Lane, El Cerrito;
8:00am – 5pm Mon – Fri, 9am – 4:45pm Sat – Sun - Richmond Fire Department Station #63: 5201 Valley View Rd, El Sobrante;
24-hour drop off bin is located outside of main entrance - Richmond Police Station 1701 Regatta Blvd. Richmond;
7am – 8pm Mon – Sun - West County HHW Collection Facility: 101 Pittsburg Avenue, Richmond;
Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, from 9am to 4pm, closed 12-12:30pm
Please follow these directions for drop-off:
- Keep medicine/pharmaceuticals in original container; or place in zipper plastic bag and indicate contents
- Leave the drug name intact. Black out personal information, including names, prescription numbers and doctor’s name.
For more information, visit the CalRecycle Pharmaceutical Drug Waste page.
NOTE: No controlled substances will be accepted at the HHW collection facility or in the drop-off bins.
It is illegal for collection facilities to accept certain prescription medications known as “controlled substances”. These are drugs that have a potential for addiction and/or abuse such as narcotics and tranquilizers. Common controlled substances include codeine, phenobarbitol, and anabolic steroids.
Information on controlled substances disposal is provided by the DEA Call Center – call (800) 882-9539. The DEA Sponsors a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day twice a year (usually in April and October).
For a complete list of controlled substances visit the Federal DEA list of controlled substances.
Additional Locations
Please call ahead for drop-off hours:
- KAISER Pharmacy 1301 PINOLE VALLEY RD 1ST FLOOR, PINOLE, CA 94564 (510) 243-4311
- KAISER Richmond Hospital Main Pharmacy 901 NEVIN AVENUE, RICHMOND, CA 94801 (510) 307-3160
- CVS/Pharmacy 2151 MEEKER AVE, RICHMOND, CA 94804 (510) 231-5922
- CVS/Pharmacy 10650 SAN PABLO AVE, EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 527-3210
- CVS/Pharmacy 670 EL CERRITO PLAZA, EL CERRITO, CA 94530 (510) 524-5895
* For additional locations, go here: https://med-project.org/locations/contra-costa/convenient-kiosks/
ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO RECYCLE
Give to a DEA-Authorized Collector
Some pharmacies and law enforcement offices are registered with the DEA as authorized drug collectors. You can drop-off unused or unwanted drugs at these locations. Find a DEA-authorized disposal location.
Walgreens Safe Medication Disposal Program
Select Walgreens locations now have kiosks for safe medication disposal. Find a kiosk here.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Each April and October the DEA hosts a nationwide drug take back day. Find a drop off location and the date of the next take back day.
Pill Bottle Donation
Donate empty plastic pill bottles to Matthew 25: Ministries for inclusion in shipments of medical supplies and for shredding and recycling.
WAYS TO REUSE
Repurpose Empty Pill Bottles
Put empty pill bottles to good use by repurposing them as travel containers and organizers for items such as cotton swabs, bobby pins, spare buttons, mini sewing kits, jewelry, coins, earbuds, and other knickknacks and supplies.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Don’t Rush to Flush Unwanted Medications – English Video
Don’t Rush to Flush Unwanted Medications – Spanish Video
Don’t Rush to Flush
How to Safely Dispose of Unwanted Needles & Sharps
Why You Should Be Careful with Sharps
Improper disposal of used or unwanted “sharps” (needles, syringes, lancets and other sharps items) can cause a serious injury and pose health risks to the public and waste workers. Waste workers are exposed to potential needle stick injuries and potential infection when inappropriate containers break open inside garbage trucks or sharps become exposed when sent to recycling facilities. Housekeepers and janitors may also be injured when loose sharps poke through trash bags. Used needles can also cause painful infections and transmit serious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis.
The Law
Beginning on September 1, 2008, State law made it illegal to dispose of home-generated sharps waste in the trash or recycling containers, and requires that all sharps waste be transported to a collection center in an approved bio-hazard sharps container.
The California Health and Safety Code defines “home-generated sharps waste” as hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications derived from a household, including a multifamily residence or household.
Residents can visit the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) website to find out if the pharmaceutical manufacturer has a free sharps container available. Senate Bill 486, passed in October 2009, required that by July 1, 2010:
“…all pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell or distribute a medication in California that is usually intended to be self-injected at home through the use of a hypodermic needle, pen needle, intravenous needle or any similar device, to 1) submit a plan describing their actions to support or provide for the safe collection and proper disposal of the waste devices, and 2) educate consumers about safe sharps management and collection opportunities.”
The CalRecycle website that lists the manufacturers who have turned in a plan is www.calrecycle.ca.gov/homehazwaste/sharps/reporting/default.htm
If residents need more containers they can ask the pharmacy where they get their medications. For further information about obtaining biohazard containers or mail-back programs (most of these companies charge a fee for the containers):
Mail-Back Services for a Fee*:
We do not endorse any of these companies and do not intend this to be a complete list.
- GRP & Associates www.sharpsdisposal.com (800) 207-0976
- Republic Services www.republicsharps.com (855) 737-7871
- Sharps Compliance, Inc. www.sharpsinc.com (800) 772-5657
- Stericycle, Inc. https://store.stericycle.com (800) 355-8773
- WCM (Waste & Compliance Management, Inc.) www.wastewise.com (866) 436-9264
- Waste Management MedWaste Tracker www.wm.com/residential/medical-waste.jsp (866) 803-7561
- www.earth911.com also has additional information
Mail-Back Services at No Cost*:
*We do not endorse any of these companies and do not intend this to be a complete list.
- INMAR
Phone: 1 (888) 371-0717
Residents of California can fill out their contact information and request up to three sharps collection containers to be delivered to them with pre-paid, pre-addressed mail-back packaging. - MED – Project
Phone: 1 (844) 633-7765
Residents of California can fill out their contact information and asharps collection container with pre-paid, pre-addressed mail-backpackage is delivered to them.
Drop Off Locations in West Contra Costa
Hercules, Pinole and Richmond Police Departments along with the West County Wastewater District office are drop-off locations for needles, sharps, and lancets. These convenient locations allow West Contra Costa County residents to properly dispose of sharps keep them out of the garbage. The program is a collaborative effort between RecycleMore, West County Resource Recovery Inc., and the participating locations.
- Pinole Police Station: 880 Tennent Avenue, Pinole;
Lobby hours: 8am – 5pm Mon – Fri - El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center: 7501 Schmidt Lane, El Cerrito;
8:00am – 5pm Mon – Fri, 9am – 4:45pm Sat – Sun - Richmond Fire Department Station #63: 5201 Valley View Rd, El Sobrante;
24-hour drop off bin is located outside of main entrance - Richmond Police Station 1701 Regatta Blvd. Richmond;
7am – 8pm Mon – Sun - Richmond Senior Center: 2525 MacDonald Avenue, Richmond; (Limited Collection)
8:30am – 5pm Mon – Fri, 8am – 11am Sat - Richmond Annex Senior Center: 5801 Huntington Avenue, Richmond; (Limited Collection)
24-hour drop off bin is located outside of main entrance - West County HHW Collection Facility: 101 Pittsburg Avenue, Richmond;
Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat. from 9am to 4pm, closed 12-12:30pm
RESOURCES
A printable PDF file showing these locations.