Bernalillo County, NM Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

Bernalillo County's Solid Waste chapter treats used needles and other biohazards as a class of waste that never goes out with the regular cart. Section 70-33 defines "infectious waste" to include, among other categories, "used sharps, including used hypodermic needles, syringes, scalpel blades, Pasteur pipettes and broken glass," alongside pathological waste, contaminated blood products and microbiological lab waste. Section 70-39(d)(1) then sets the operative rule: none of that material, nor "wearing apparel, bedding, solid waste or other infectious or contagious material from homes, hospitals nursing homes, or other places where highly infectious or contagious diseases have prevailed," may be placed in containers for regular collection.

Anyone who generates it, whether a household disposing of diabetic supplies or a clinic, must "immediately notify the county manager," who then provides technical assistance on proper collection and disposal, billed to the owner or possessor of the waste. The county's solid waste management program administers that arrangement rather than collecting sharps curbside. The code does not authorize or site any needle-exchange or harm-reduction drop-box program; disposal runs entirely through this notify-and-arrange mechanism under Article II of Chapter 70, adopted under the county's solid waste authority at NMSA 1978 Sec.

4-56-2. Violations of the article, including improper disposal of infectious waste, are misdemeanors under section 70-44, punishable up to the maximum penalty state statute allows, with each day of a continuing violation charged as a separate offense.