Linden, NJ Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

1 bars placing any disposable or reusable hypodermic needle or syringe in garbage or trash, or discarding or abandoning one in any public or private place accessible to another person, even a trespasser, without first destroying it. The same section reaches property owners, lessees and anyone in control of accessible premises: they may not knowingly permit a discarded or abandoned needle or syringe to remain intact on the property. 2 defines destruction narrowly. For a needle, the needle itself must be broken from the hub or mangled.

For a syringe, the nipple of the barrel must be broken from the barrel, or the plunger and barrel must be melted. Alternatively, the item can be discarded as a single unit, without recapping, into a rigid container, provided that container is then destroyed by grinding or crushing in a compactor, burning in a Department of Environmental Protection-approved incinerator, or another method approved by the Department of Health. 4 gives the Police Department and the Sanitary Inspector of the Department of Public Works concurrent jurisdiction to enforce the section, so either agency can act on a violation. This provision, carried forward from the 1979 Code § 4-31, targets the more specific harm of needlestick injury and predates modern harm-reduction syringe programs.