#1 - Dispose
Removing unused medication from your medicine cabinet prevents others from consuming it and potentially becoming addicted.
Do NOT dispose of medications down the drain or flush down the toilet as waste water treatment plants do not have the capacity to filter out or treat certain items (hormone medications, chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, etc.) Ultimately, this can create harmful results in wildlife populations, such as fish infertility.
There are several ways to dispose of unused medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter:
1) Contact these drop-off locations to find out if they are currently accepting unused medication:
• Baldwinsville Police Department: 16 West Genesee Street, Baldwinsville, NY 13027
• Cicero Police Department: 6200 State Rt. 31, Cicero, NY 13039
• Geddes Police Department: 1000 Woods Rd, Solvay, NY 13209
• Jordan Police Department: 7 Mechanic Street, Jordan, NY 13080
• Manlius Police Department: 1 Arkie Albanese Ave. Manlius, NY 13104
• Marcellus Police Department: 6 Slocombe Avenue, Marcellus, NY 13108
• North Syracuse Police Department: 600 South Bay Road, North Syracuse, NY 13212
2) Bring it to Kinney Drugs.
3) Bring it to a Drug Enforcement Administration Take Back Day.
4) Bring it to a NYS Drop off location (map).
5) Disguise it by mixing it with an unwanted substance such as coffee grounds or rotten food scraps, to deter people or pets from ingesting it, and place in the trash.
Medications brought to a drop-off site, pharmacy, DEA Take Back Day or put in the trash in our community all meet the same end; they are destroyed at the Waste-to-Energy Facility. Here they are combusted at over 2,000 degrees and converted into electricity, along with the rest of the trash generated in our community. The Waste-to-Energy Facility produces enough electricity to power 30,000 homes in Onondaga County!
Wondering what to do with the bottles and vials that medicine comes in? Check out this link for details.
