If you find sharps that have been illegally discarded, immediately contact your county health department for instructions. Sharps containers should never be combined with regular household garbage. Contact your local garbage hauler to ask if they will pick up your sharps containers.
Infectious waste can be a threat to human health and the environment.
Because so many people can come into contact with infectious wastes, it is very important that these be properly collected, handled, stored, treated, hauled and disposed. Many other people come into contact with infectious wastes in their line of work, such as police and firefighters, commercial and private property owners, waste haulers, landfill operators, doctors, nurses, veterinarians, and construction workers. All infectious waste, except sharps, must be treated before disposal . There is only one exception to treatment when it comes to infectious waste. The landfill operator is required to store these in a segregated area of the landfill.