Collier County, FL Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

Sec. 118-104(C)(1), part of the contractor-and-customer responsibilities article of the county's solid waste ordinance (Ord. No. 2005-54, § 19, as amended by Ord. No. 2015-38 and Ord. No. 2019-36), sets the baseline curbside service residential customers get in a benefit unit: garbage and rubbish, yard trash/biomass, program recyclables, bulk waste, white goods, tires, batteries and electronic equipment. Hazardous waste is carved out of that list entirely: the ordinance states it 'shall not be placed in roll carts or curbside containers for collection by the contractor,' and instead 'should be taken to a county Recycling Drop-Off Center or the Hazardous Materials Collection Center for disposal,' explicitly naming pharmaceutical and medicinal waste and hypodermic devices (sharps) 'suitably contained in a heavy plastic container.'

Sec. 118-150(b) backs the disposal side of that rule: the county may operate Hazardous Waste Collection Centers and periodically host roundups, including for pharmaceuticals, under a program it calls Operation Medicine Cabinet. Conditionally exempt and small-quantity generators can also bring hazardous material to a recycling center by appointment with the county's hazardous-materials contractor under Sec. 118-150(c), though acceptance and any fee are handled between that generator and the contractor directly, not the county.

Sec. 118-104(G)(4) gives the contractor a specific response if sharps or other hazardous waste turns up at the curb anyway: the contractor must refuse to collect it, tag the container with a Non-Collection Notice, photograph the improper waste where possible, and notify the county Solid Waste Management Department, which then works with the contractor to try to identify who generated it.