Larimer County, Colorado—The Larimer County Solid Waste Department’s “sharps” program allows county residents to drop off their used needles—known as “sharps”—on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The sharps program is designed to help county residents who require self-medicating injections safely dispose of their needles. Many people currently throw used needles into their regular trash. Unfortunately, doing so puts landfill and trash hauler employees at risk from needle sticks.

To address this problem, the county’s Household Hazardous Waste program began accepting used needles one day a week at its collection facility at the Larimer County Landfill.  To make it even easier for residents to do the right thing, the program recently expanded to take sharps three days a week. Individuals must be Larimer County residents and follow the guidelines below. No fees are charged.

Sharps must be brought in an OSHA-approved sharps container, which can be purchased from most local drug stores. Loose needles or those brought in any other container will not be accepted.

The collection facility and landfill are located at 5887 S. Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins. For more information about the sharps collection program, call 970-498-5773 or 970-498-5760, or visit www.larimer.org/solidwaste.