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    Press Release
    Sutter Regional Medical Foundation

    Sutter Regional Medical Foundation and the City of Vacaville Partner to address upcoming home-generated sharps disposal ban - May 12, 2008

    VACAVILLE (BUSINESS WIRE) -Sutter Regional Medical Foundation and the City of Vacaville have teamed up to introduce a new needle collection program to help keep the community safe and comply with a new state law, California Senate Bill 1305.

    Effective September 1st, home-generated sharps waste, such as needles, syringes and lancets can no longer be placed into household and public garbage cans or recycling containers. Needle waste is increasing each year as more people use injectable medications for chronic conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.

    The new law encourages state agencies, local governments, and industry to work cooperatively to publicize community sites authorized to accept sharps waste and to implement convenient mail-back programs that use containers approved by the U.S. Postal Service.

      Sutter has recently installed a needle drop box from Stericycle to provide a safe, convenient resource to deposit needle waste. It is located in the lobby at 770 Mason Street in Vacaville.

    To use the drop box, residents must first put their used needles in an FDA-approved plastic container (a rigid plastic container with a lid). When full, the sharps containers can then be deposited in the needle drop box at no charge. If residents do not have an appropriate sharps disposal container, they can obtain a free container from the lab on the 3 rd floor of Sutter's office located at 770 Mason Street.

    "We're very excited about providing this new service to the community," says Russell Neilson, spokesman for Sutter Regional Medical Foundation. "Many health care providers now ask that patients properly dispose of their own used needles and syringes, and our drop box is a convenient, accessible way for our residents to do that."

    The City of Vacaville Household Hazardous Waste Facility also has begun collecting sharps from Vacaville residents every Saturday from 9-3 at 855 1/2 Davis Street. As a safety measure to our technicians, all needles must be in a sealed FDA-approved plastic container.

    California residents generate an estimated 400 million used sharps each year, many of which are improperly disposed of as household trash. This presents a great risk to sanitation and sewage treatment workers, janitors, housekeepers, and children. Besides the pain of a needle-stick injury, people exposed to sharps can contract a life-altering disease such as HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis B or C. California Senate Bill 1305 is expected to greatly reduce exposure to sharps-related injuries.

    For more information about the needle drop box or other needle disposal service, call (707) 469-6509.