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How to Safely Dispose of Your Old Medications

Medically reviewed by Leigh Ann Anderson, PharmD. Last updated on Oct 11, 2024.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

On Saturday, October 26, 2024 - 10AM to 2PM local time, communities will team up with law enforcement to host the next National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosts a no-questions asked National Prescription Drug Take-Back event twice per year. On this day, collection sites are available in local cities throughout the nation for safe disposal of prescription drugs, including opioids. Collection sites may be found at retail, hospital, or clinic pharmacies, or law enforcement facilities.

Drug overdoses skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have started to decline. In 2023, there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States as reported by the CDC, a decrease of 3% from the 111,029 deaths estimated in 2022. Disposing of unneeded or expired medications can help to continue the fight against this crisis, as many abused prescription drugs are found in the home.

Opioids, including synthetic opioids like illicit fentanyl, were responsible for many of these deaths. In fact, opioids are a factor in 7 out of every 10 overdose deaths.

The DEA wants to ensure the public that there are safe ways to dispose of unwanted prescription drugs, including at-home disposal and year-round collection sites.

What is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day?

Opioid abuse in the U.S. remains a top public health concern. The DEA’s “Take-Back” initiative is one of several strategies to reduce prescription drug abuse and diversion in the nation. Consumers should dispose of expired, unwanted, or unused medicines as quickly as possible to help reduce accidental or intentional overdoses or illegal abuse. The disposal services are free and anonymous for consumers, with no questions asked.

Removing unnecessary medicines from the home can help prevent misuse and abuse, theft and someone taking the medicine for its euphoric effects rather than for medical purposes.

During Take-Back Days collection sites are set up in local cities throughout the nation for safe disposal of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs you have at home, including opioids. Other items accepted usually include pet medicines and OTC vitamins. Take Back Days occur each year in April and October.

Beginning with the October 2019 campaign, these sites also started accepted vaping devices and cartridges (with batteries removed) at all of its drop-off locations.

You can call the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA's) Office of Diversion Control’s Registration Call Center at 1-800-882-9539 or check the DEA's website for authorized collection sites in your area.

DEA provides a list of permanent (year round) Controlled Substance Public Disposal Locations for use when Take Back Days are not available. Your local pharmacy or law enforcement may have one in your neighborhood. DEA has registered 17,000 pharmacies as authorized collectors to help Americans dispose of unused prescription drugs any day of the year. 

Consumers should utilize the guidelines Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know as posted by the FDA if they are not able to attend a scheduled Take-Back Day or find an authorized drop off location.

Which items are NOT accepted?

Check with the collector ahead of time to determine what items are not accepted. Certain items generally are not accepted at the drop box, such as:

DEA will collect vape pens or other e-cigarette devices from individual consumers only after the batteries are removed from the devices.

Check with your local city or county hazardous waste recycling centers for disposal of items such as mercury or iodine-containing products. Your pharmacy may accept asthma inhalers for recycling.

Can I throw medicine in the trash?

Follow your healthcare provider's instructions specifically for disposing of medicines if these were provided, ask your pharmacist or check the package insert to see if special instructions exist for disposal. Understand some medicines should be flushed down the toilet and you can check to see which ones.

Many medications can be thrown in the trash but you should follow the below steps before disposing of them. Medicines include prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in pills, liquids, drops, patches, and creams. Some medicines should be flushed because they are too dangerous to put in the trash if a drop off location is not immediately available. 

If no DEA-authorized collection sites are available, and no Take Back Days are scheduled in your area, you can follow these steps to dispose of most (but not all) medicines in the household trash:

  1. Mix medicines with an unpalatable substance such as dirt, used coffee grounds, or kitty litter. Take them out of their original container first. Do not crush tablets or capsules before mixing.
  2. Place the mixture in something that can be closed, like a sealed plastic bag or an empty can, to prevent the drug from leaking into the garbage.
  3. Throw the container in the trash, then dispose of the trash. Keep the trash away from children and pets.
  4. When disposing of empty prescription bottles or packages, be sure to mark out identifying personal information to make it unreadable.

Inhalers for asthma or other breathing conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be dangerous if punctured or thrown into a fire or incinerator. Read handling instructions on the labeling of inhalers and aerosol products. To properly dispose of these products and follow local regulations and laws, contact your trash and recycling facility.

Be aware that some medicines should only be flushed when drop off facilities are not immediately available because they are too dangerous to leave in the trash. See the list of drugs that should be flushed here. 

Which medicines can be flushed down the toilet?

Some medications should be flushed down the toilet because even one accidental dose could be fatal. These medications may be especially harmful - or fatal - to children and pets. People may also look to abuse or sell these potent, and possibly deadly, medicines if easily accesSible in the trash.

How do you know if you can flush your medicine? Consult the FDA's list of medicines that should be flushed down the toilet. Remember, don’t flush your medicine unless it is on the flush list.

One drug example that should be flushed is the fentanyl skin patch. The patch delivers a very strong pain medicine through the skin. After the patch is used it still contains a lot of powerful medicine that could be deadly. 

The FDA recommends promptly disposing of used patches by folding them in half with the sticky sides together, and then flushing them down a toilet. Patches should not be placed in the household trash, where children or pets can find them. Children may find lost, discarded or improperly stored patches and ingest them or stick them on themselves or others.

If you suspect that a child has been exposed to a fentanyl patch, call 911 and seek emergency medical help right away.

Related: FDA: Accidental Exposures to Fentanyl Patches Continue to Be Deadly to Children 

Does flushing medications down the toilet pose a risk to the environment?

FDA has stated that disposal of these select few medicines on the Flush List by flushing down the toilet would only contribute to a small fraction of the total amount of medicine found in surface and drinking water.

FDA environmental authorities state most medicines in water are a result of elimination via the body from urine or feces. FDA also states that based on available data, the risk to humans from accidental exposure to these potent medications far outweighs the environmental risk.

Always check with your pharmacist when you receive your prescription if you are not sure how to dispose of any leftover or expired medications.

Other points for safe drug disposal

DEA began hosting National Prescription Drug Take-Back events in 2010. At the last Take-Back Day in April 2024, 4,607 sites across the nation collected unwanted or expired medications totaling 670,136 pounds (335 tons). 

Note: This is not all the information you need to know about safe drug disposal and does not take the place of your doctor’s directions. Review the full product information and / or Medication Guide of your medicine and discuss this information and any questions you have with your doctor or other health care provider.

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Further information

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

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