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Recycling Blog - A Needle Nightmare

This week we have another contamination culprit for you to get stuck into. Yes, it’s needles! 

We don’t mean the ones you knit with, or use for sewing - we mean the potentially very hazardous, medical kind.Used hypodermic needle found in house recycling

You would not believe the number of hypodermic needles we find in kerb side recycling. Only this week the pre-sort line at the recycling plant was stopped for over 10 minutes after an operative spotted discarded needles on the conveyer. Eventually a whopping 40 needles were removed by operatives using tongs, and placed in a sharps bin.

However, despite hawk eyes and a thorough search through the materials, when the conveyor did start up again there was still a worry that a few could have gotten through and risk injuring operatives down the line.

These 40 offenders can be added to the over 800 needles removed from the picking line already this year. Last month alone 147 needles were removed in 15 minutes after a delivery of just four lorry loads of recycling. 

Not only do needles cause the whole Materials Recycling Facility to stop whilst they’re removed, but imagine if they caused a needlestick injury or spread an illness to one of our staff?

Unused needles found in kerbside recycling collection

So, what can you do with any needles or sharps:

Both used and unused needles go in sharps bins only. Do not put them inside other containers in your waste, do not put them in your general rubbish bin and do not put them in your recycling. 

More information on disposing of needles and sharps is available on the NHS website, visit: www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/accidents-first-aid-and-treatments/how-should-i-dispose-of-used-needles-or-sharps/