Hawthorne, CA Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

100 governs how discarded materials must be placed in proper containers, and subsection C carves out a specific prohibition for sharps and medical waste. It makes it unlawful for any pharmacist, physician, surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, veterinarian, nurse, nurse's aide or helper, or any other person in a similar profession, along with clinics, hospitals, or their agents and employees, or any other custodian responsible for disposal, to get rid of unused, used or partly used containers, bottles, hypodermic syringes, hypodermic needles, drugs, medicines, medical supplies, bandages or dressings by placing them in the discarded-materials containers the code otherwise requires and authorizes for regular household and business refuse.

The section sits alongside subsection B, which requires the owner or occupant of a premises where an infectious or contagious disease has prevailed to notify the health officer and dispose of affected articles as directed, and subsection D, which separately bars hazardous waste from any collection container used by an authorized hauler. Read together, these provisions keep medical sharps and contagion-risk materials out of the residential and commercial cart stream that Hawthorne's franchised haulers handle, pushing that waste toward dedicated medical-waste disposal channels instead.