How to Dispose of Medication

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Updated: October 16, 2019

Explore this Article Disposing of Most Medications Disposing of Potentially Dangerous Medications Article Summary Questions & Answers Related Articles

Did you know flushing medicine down the toilet or washing it down the drain can be harmful to the environment? There's a safer way to get rid of the expired medicine cluttering up your bathroom cabinet. Read on to learn how to dispose of unused medication in a way that ensures it won't fall into the wrong hands or contaminate the groundwater in your area.[1]

Disposing of Most Medications

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    Don't flush most medications. In recent years it has been discovered that flushing certain medications that contain hormones, antibiotics, and other substances can lead to contamination of groundwater and other detrimental effects. Instead of flushing these medications, the safest way to dispose of them is to disguise them and then throw them away with your trash.[2]
    • Read the packaging on the medication and look for instructions on safe disposal.
    • There are certain medications considered to be too potentially harmful to throw out with the trash. If the medication is a highly controlled substance that could cause severe medical harm to someone else if they were to ingest it, the FDA recommends flushing it or disposing of it in another way.[3]
    • If you're not sure whether the medication you want to get rid of is considered to be highly controlled, ask your pharmacist what to do.
  2. 2
    Mix medications with kitty litter or coffee grounds. Mixing either pills or liquids with an undesirable substance like kitty litter or coffee grounds will make it much less likely that a child or household pet will find and ingest the substance.[4]
    • If the pills are large or brightly colored, crush them or dissolve them before mixing them with another substance.
  3. 3
    Place the mixture in a plastic bag and seal it. This extra level of protection is another way to make sure the medication won't fall into the wrong hands.[5]
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    Throw the bag away with your trash. Once the medication is thoroughly disguised and sealed in a bag, simply throw it out with your trash.
  5. 5
    Remove the labels from the empty medicine bottles. Scrape off the labels so that the print is illegible before you throw the bottles away. This measure is taken to protect your identity.[6]

Disposing of Potentially Dangerous Medications

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    Determine whether your medication is considered potentially dangerous. The FDA has published a list of medications that it recommends against throwing away with the trash. If someone were to find and ingest these medications, he or she could face serious health consequences.[7]
  2. 2
    Look into community drug disposal programs. Many communities have programs that allow you to bring in unused medications so that they can be disposed of safely and properly.[8]
    • Call a local pharmacy to find out if they can dispose of your medication. In some states, although not all, they have an unused medication disposal program that the pharmacies themselves may use to dispose of outdated medications.
    • Consider donating your unused medications to third world countries. There are organizations you can find online. Alternatively, consider contacting your local Emergency Rooms, occasionally they will collect usable supplies and medications for donation out-country.
    • Call your local trash service - they might have household waste facilities that will incinerate the medication.
    • Contact your local hospital or medical center who will place unused medications into their Bio Hazard containers for incineration. All hospitals have this option so there is never a need to toss or flush unused medication.[9]
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    Flush if you have no other option. If your medication is on the FDA's list of medications that should not be thrown out, and you have no other immediate way of disposing of them, flushing might be the best option.[10]
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Community Q&A

Add New Question
  • Question
    Is it really safe to flush pharmaceuticals?
    Community Answer
    Flushing pharmaceuticals is dangerous because drugs get released into our water systems and can be harmful to wildlife and affect water quality.
  • Question
    Why would I throw away my medication after it's been used?
    Community Answer
    You won't need your medication after you are done with what it is used for. Plus, it might also, over time, go bad and be potentially dangerous.
  • Question
    Is it good to burn unused prescriptions?
    Community Answer
    It's good and bad. There will be no harmful medicated substances in the air, but abnormally greater pollution will rise to the air from the burning medications.
  • Question
    How do I get rid of illegal drugs?
    Community Answer
    You can pretty much use the same steps to dispose of legal and illegal medication.
  • Question
    How should I dispose of unused fragmin and injection needles?
    Community Answer
    Unused needles that are still in their original containers can be disposed of in your regular trash.
  • Question
    How do I dispose of cream medications?
    Community Answer
    You can still mix cream with coffee grounds or kitty litter as explained above and proceed with disposing it as the article states.
  • Question
    How can I dispose of mercury thermometers?
    Community Answer
    Mercury is highly toxic and should be disposed of at your nearest hazardous waste facility. In most cities, hospitals or pharmacies may be able to handle this type of waste.
  • Question
    Where can I dispose of insulin and other medications safely?
    Community Answer
    Bring them back to the drug store or pharmacy where you received them. The professionals there will be able to dispose of the drugs safely.
  • Question
    What's the easiest way to get prescription labels off a prescription bottle?
    Community Answer
    Spray the label lightly with WD-40 spray lubricant and let it sit a few hours. The oil will penetrate the paper label and release the adhesive. If the paper label has a plastic coating, peel the plastic away first before spraying the WD-40.
  • Question
    Can I dispose of medication by dissolving it in cola?
    Community Answer
    No, because the medication will be absorbed into the cola and find its way into the water supply.
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    Video of disposing hazardous waste in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


    • Sometimes there will be a conflict between the instructions and the guidelines given in the article. Some medications are accompanied by paperwork that says not to flush, for example, but the FDA recommends flushing that medication.There is no clear consensus on how to dispose of the medication in question.
    • If you are worried about your privacy, remove confidential information from old prescription medication containers before disposing them. Take an extra minute to destroy the label that describes the medication, your name, your doctor's name, the prescription number, your pharmacy's name, and in many cases your medical condition. You wouldn't want any of this information made public by someone sifting your trash
    • Most UK pharmacies will accept medication for disposal.
    • If you have an ongoing medical condition that you aren't insured for, or expect not to be insure for in the future, consider saving your medication instead of disposing of it. That way you'll have it for a rainy day; many people have ongoing knee and back injuries which they are not insured for, but who could benefit from prescription pain medication.

    Article SummaryX

    Most medications are safe to throw away in the garbage — you can check the label on the bottle to confirm your medication is safe for garbage. If it isn’t, mix pills or liquid medication with an undesirable substance like kitty litter or coffee grounds, which will keep children or pets from possibly ingesting the discarded medication. Alternatively, you can wrap your medication in a plastic bag and secure it with tape to prevent anything from getting inside of the bag. Then, throw the medication in the trash. To learn how to dispose of potentially dangerous medications, keep reading!

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    Article Info



    Categories: Featured Articles | Household Waste Disposal

    In other languages:

    Español: deshacerse de medicina sin usar, Italiano: Smaltire i Farmaci Inutilizzati, Français: se débarrasser convenablement des médicaments non utilisés, Deutsch: Alte Medikamente richtig entsorgen, Русский: избавиться от неиспользованных лекарств, 中文: 处置未使用的药物, Bahasa Indonesia: Membuang Obat obatan, Português: Descartar Remédios

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