Prescription and Veterinary Medicine Disposal
Unused, unwanted, or expired medicines/pharmaceuticals, including veterinary medicines/pharmaceuticals, are potentially harmful to animals, people, or the environment and must be safely disposed of to ensure others do not find and use the medication.
Households and Individuals
If you are a household or individual the following options are available for you to dispose of medications:
Drug Take Back Programs
The best way to dispose of most types of unused or expired medication is to drop off the medicine at a drug take back site or program. You can find a DEA authorized collector in your community at Controlled Substance Public Disposal Locations - Search Utility. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also sponsors National Prescription Take Back Day each April and October in communities nationwide.
Pharmacies
Check with your pharmacist about take back programs, including mail-back programs.
Disposal at Home
When a take back program isn’t readily available, there are two options for disposing of medicines at home, depending on the drug.
Flush Certain Medicines Down the Drain
Certain medicines are especially harmful to others and have specific directions to immediately flush them down the drain when they are no longer needed, and a take back option is not readily available. Check US FDA’s list of medicines recommended for disposal by flushing. Do not flush medications if they are not on the flush list.
Household Trash
If the medication is not on the flush list, then follow the FDA instructions for disposing of the medicine in the household trash. Follow these steps:
- Remove the medicine from the original containers and mix them with something undesirable, such as used coffee grounds, dirt, or cat litter. This makes the medicine less appealing and unrecognizable.
- Put the mixture in something you can close to prevent the drug from leaking or spilling out.
- Throw the container in the trash.
- Scratch out all your personal information on the empty medicine packaging to protect your identity and privacy. Throw the packaging away.
Hospital, Pharmacies, Clinics, and Other Businesses
Hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, and other businesses generating pharmaceutical waste generally cannot use public take back program or events to dispose of expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceuticals. Public collection events typically do not intend to manage waste from businesses or comply with the regulations applicable to business waste. Healthcare facilities and healthcare-related businesses that generate pharmaceutical wastes are responsible for appropriately managing their wastes in accordance with all local, state, and federal environmental regulations. This includes the rules for managing hazardous wastes if the pharmaceutical wastes generated are identified as hazardous waste.
Hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, and other businesses should work with a reverse distributor or hazardous waste contractor to handle their expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceuticals.
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