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LEICESTER, Mass. — The Leicester Police Department unveiled its new sharps disposal kiosk Monday evening, giving residents a safe and secure place to dispose of their used needles and sharp medical instruments.
Located inside the police station lobby, the new kiosk is a collaborative effort by the Leicester Police Department, the Leicester Board of Health, the City of Worcester Regional Health Department and the Leicester Recycling Center.
Leicester Police Chief Jim Hurley said the sharps kiosk was a natural progression for the Police Department, coming on the heels of the recent installation of a 24-hour prescription drug drop-off kiosk, also in the station lobby
"The drug drop-off kiosk has been extremely successful in collecting unused, unwanted or outdated prescription narcotics," Hurley said. "Seeing the success of that program made it easy to say yes to the Board of Health when they asked if we would install a kiosk for the disposal of sharps."
The goal of the program is decrease the illegal disposal of sharps, which ultimately protects residents and the environment, Hurley said.
Residents may use the kiosk to drop off medical sharps and sharps used to treat pets and animals.
A limited number of replacement collection containers are available for residents who need them.
Hurley also thanked the Board of Selectmen for their support of the project, adding that "they have been extremely supportive of the implementation of both of these drop-off kiosks since the beginning."
"The Board of Selectmen along with the other agencies involved in these projects realize if you can get the drugs or sharps into the kiosk, you are keeping them from ending up somewhere else where they can have a negative impact on society and the environment," Hurley said.
For more information about dropping off sharps, contact Hurley at the Leicester Police Department at 508-892-7010, ext. 2010, or by email.
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