Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 728 governs disposal of used needles and sharps, and Dallas County Health and Human Services operates a SHARP collection program for residents needing safe drop-off of household medical sharps.
Texas treats home-generated sharps as special waste under Health & Safety Code Chapter 728 and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules. Residents must place used needles, lancets, and syringes in rigid puncture-resistant containers, never loose in trash or recycling. Dallas curbside collection refuses unsecured sharps. Dallas County Health and Human Services partners with pharmacies and clinics for the SHARP collection program offering free drop-off of properly contained sharps. Texas does not currently authorize public syringe-services exchange programs outside of authorized pilots, so personal disposal responsibility is high. Improper disposal causing injury can lead to municipal nuisance citations.
Discarding loose syringes in regular trash, recycling, or public spaces violates state law, and improper disposal causing injury can lead to civil liability and municipal citations under Dallas property maintenance and littering ordinances.
Dallas, TX
Dallas City Code Chapter 18 and Chapter 27 require property owners to control rats, mice, and other vermin. Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 343 also defin...
Dallas, TX
Dallas provides brush and bulky item collection under City Code Chapter 18, Sec. 18-4. Items must not include building materials (bricks, rock, asphalt, conc...
Dallas, TX
Dallas residents can report code violations by calling 311 (or 214-670-3111 from outside the city), through the OurDallas (Dallas 311) mobile app, or online ...
See how Dallas's syringe disposal rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.