How to Dispose of Used Diabetes Supplies

Health Line

a day ago

To dispose of used diabetes supplies, use an FDA-cleared container for sharp medical supplies. This can help prevent injury from exposed needles when they're disposed of properly.
Diabetes medical supplies play an important role in managing blood sugar and living a healthy life. But once you've used them up, figuring out how to dispose of the waste can be a chore.
That can mean finding a place to discard used syringes and sharp needles, bloody test strips, old infusion sets, empty glass vials, or many other disposable parts that come with diabetes devices.
Some of this may end up in the trash or recycle bin, heading to a disposal site along with Amazon boxes, empty water bottles, and trash going to a landfill.
But for the rest, including sharp medical supplies, you may have to take more care in disposing of used diabetes items.
Handling medical sharps
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refers to these as 'sharps,' the medical term for supplies and devices with sharp points or edges that can puncture or cut your skin.
For people with diabetes, this may include:
lancets used to poke their fingers
syringes or pen needle tips for injecting insulin
insulin pump infusion sets and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) sensors that have tiny built-in needles to puncture the skin
needles for certain forms of fast-acting glucagon used for severe hypoglycemia
Generally, the public health risk tied to sharps disposal has been well-documented and monitored by the FDA along with healthcare professionals.
This older study noted that people with diabetes are most likely to dispose of medical sharps in the 'most convenient manner,' which is often household trash.
According to this 2023 research review, people who've lived with the condition longer are the least likely to dispose of medical sharps correctly. Those who have newly received the diagnosis tend to be more cautious when handling needles and medical sharps and disposing of used supplies.
These findings echo an earlier 2018 study, in which researchers found those who'd lived with diabetes for 30 or more years were the least likely to dispose of medical sharps correctly.
According to researchers, many people with diabetes didn't learn about proper disposal practices from healthcare professionals, but those who did had the highest rates of correctly disposing of diabetes supply waste.
This Indonesia-based research, published in 2023, found that only healthcare professional training helped people improve their practices in disposing of diabetes supplies, particularly medical sharps like insulin syringes and pen needle caps.
Yet, this 2024 research shows that people in Egypt with 'fair' knowledge of how to dispose of diabetes supplies may not always dispose of them correctly.
How to dispose of used diabetes sharps
You can dispose of and sometimes recycle sharps in special sharps containers, according to state and local rules.
The FDA offers this website along with a Be Smart With Sharps campaign focused on safe sharps disposal. Some basics of that campaign are as follows:
Used sharps should be immediately placed in a sharps disposal container.
FDA-cleared sharps containers are generally available through pharmacies, medical supply companies, healthcare professionals, and online. These containers are made of puncture-resistant plastic with leak-resistant sides and bottoms. They also have a tight-fitting, puncture-resistant lid.
Sharps containers come in many sizes, which can be important for certain supplies such as disposable insulin pens that are longer than some standard sharps containers can hold.
If an FDA-cleared container is not available, a heavy-duty plastic household container, such as a laundry detergent container, can be used as an alternative.
DO NOT USE milk jugs, soda cans, glass containers, or water bottles because they can break or puncture easily.
Donation options
A few national programs, such as the nonprofit Afya, accept donations of used medical supplies.
Check with local used medical supply collection programs that may accept these types of used products.
Each state and even local communities have different rules in place, so here's a guide to sharps disposal in each state.
Insulin pump supplies and infusion sets
The leftover parts from insulin pump use include the infusion sets (the piece inserted under your skin with a needle to enable insulin delivery) and the cartridges or reservoirs that hold the insulin inside the pump.
You can include most of these pieces with sharps in those waste containers.
Note that the 90-degree infusion sets (said to be more comfortable for people with smaller bodies) are compatible with all tubed pump brands. They come in plastic 'pods' with the infusion needle built in. While you can also dispose of those in sharps containers, they are a bit bulkier and take up more space.
Some insulin pump brands create more waste than others.
Medtronic and some other older, discontinued tubed pump brands have a cylinder reservoir that holds the insulin, with the infusion needle housed in a small part on top. You can dispose of both with other medical waste, but the needle part is sharp.
Tandem's t:slim X2 is the only tubed pump that doesn't use a cylinder but a slim plastic cartridge with an insulin-containing bag inside. The t:slim supplies include a syringe and needle cap to fill the bag, the plastic cartridge, and a separate infusion set with tubing.
None of the insulin pump companies in the United States have an official recycling program specific to their products. Insulet had a recycling program for Omnipod, but it was discontinued in 2018.
Do-it-yourself diabetes supply disposal ideas
Within the Diabetes Online Community, many people offer tips and tricks on what they do about recycling and disposing of old diabetes supplies.
Do not put these directly into the trash or recycling bin as-is, because of the used needles inside. While some supplies are self-contained, they can still come apart. This can be dangerous for people picking up the recycling or coming into contact with it later on.
Collect these supplies over time and then drop them off in bulk at a local sharps container facility that can process them accordingly.
Disassemble the auto-inserters using a screwdriver and pliers to separate the parts and remove the sharp needle inside. Then, put the sharper metal items into a sharps container and recycle the rest of the plastic.
Some people use thick containers, such as food containers or clear or colored jugs, once they're empty. This isn't recommended because some containers may be thinner than others — such as milk jugs or boxes — and sharps may poke through them and be dangerous.
Those using glass or thicker plastic containers should label them to indicate 'hazardous medical sharps' inside.
Try turning them into creative, crafty ideas. In #WeAreNotWaiting diabetes DIY groups online, you can regularly find instances where people have donated old transmitters and sensors to fellow experimenters to reuse for testing and building purposes.
The takeaway
You can dispose of used diabetes supplies in several ways, especially sharp medical supplies. These may include empty glass insulin vials or cartridges, insulin syringes, pen cap needles, glucose meter lancets, insulin pump infusion sets, or CGM supplies with built-in needles for inserting them into the skin.
Medical sharps containers are the preferred disposal method. They can be found at certain doctors' offices, clinics, health facilities, or other locations. You can also buy them online or at medical supply stores.
After filling those containers, check your local ordinances and state rules, which may provide more details on how and where you can properly dispose of these sharps containers.