Disposal of Prescription Drugs

Why Recycle Prescription Drugs?

  • Expired medications can be dangerous to take.
  • Having prescription drugs in your medicine cabinet makes your home more of a target for burglary or theft by drug abusers.
  • When you recycle any unused prescription drugs, you reduce the risk of pets, children and teenagers coming into accidental possession of them.
  • Prescription medication misuse by teens in on the rise and is currently the most common of any type of drug misuse.
  • By recycling, and not flushing, unused prescription drugs, you are keeping them out of our lakes, streams and drinking water systems.

Disposal of Prescription Drugs

  • Never flush unused drugs down the toilet or the drain in order to reduce water contamination.
  • Dispose of your unused drugs by placing them in the trash if a collection program is not available:
    • Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.
    • Grind and mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.
    • Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.
    • Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.
    • Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.
    • Some local pharmacies will accept leftover prescription drugs. To find a list of the locations, go to www.nebraskameds.org and enter your city or zip code. You will then be given a map and a list of all locations in your area that accept leftover prescription drugs.