Recyclers warn of needle risks as weight-loss injections grow in use

Recycling companies say discarded needles linked to the growing use of weight-loss injections are turning up in household waste, putting workers at risk of injury and infection. They are urging people to keep needles and sharps containers out of recycling bins and use dedicated clinical-waste disposal services.

At a Coventry recycling plant, staff found a crushed yellow sharps container among rubbish moving along a conveyor belt. Supervisor Paul Pagett said it had been put in a household wheelie bin and crushed by a collection vehicle, leaving needles liable to spill onto the sorting line.

Sherborne Recycling managing director Richard Dobbs said used needles belonged in clinical-waste services, not recycling facilities, where staff might handle them. The company processes waste from several local authorities, serving about 1.5 million residents. Although much of the plant’s work is automated, employees still inspect and sort waste by hand.

The BBC reported seeing a cupboard of recovered sharps containers at the plant. Recycling managers said some may have come from people using medicines such as insulin, but described privately prescribed weight-loss injections as an additional challenge. They said people buying the drugs privately may not automatically receive a sharps bin or disposal guidance.

A needlestick injury can mean months of testing and waiting for results, Dobbs said. He added that most tests were clear, but that some workers had contracted serious infections.

The advice from the recycling industry is to ask a GP or pharmacy how to obtain a sharps bin and dispose of it safely. Needles and sharps containers should not go in household recycling.