Fitchburg, WI Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

City Code § 41-24 requires household sharp medical waste in Fitchburg to be disposed of only in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 526, and bars depositing it any other place or manner in the city. The section defines acceptable disposal as placing sharps in a sharps container or a heavy plastic container and delivering the sealed container to a sharps collection station or another person authorized under Wis. Admin. Code ch. NR 526 to accept it. Loose household sharp medical waste, or containers holding it, may not be mixed with refuse or recyclables, and the hauler is directed to refuse to pick up any refuse or recyclables that contain household sharp medical waste, so a bag with a stray needle in it will simply be left at the curb.

The code's own findings in § 41-49(b) explain why: improper disposal of items like hypodermic needles poses a significant health risk to waste-industry workers, safe disposal is possible through inexpensive means without burdening residents, and removing sharps from the waste stream benefits both residents and the city's hauler and the users of the county landfill. Fitchburg's definitions section describes a sharps container as leakproof, rigid and puncture-resistant, taped closed or tightly lidded to prevent loss of the waste, and defines sharps to include contaminated, unused and disinfected items listed in Wis. Admin. 05(1), such as scalpels and hypodermic needles.