# Disposal of test strips



## Mike P (Sep 7, 2018)

Stupid question time
How do you dispose of used BG test strips and lancets? I am tempted to put them in the general waste bin as our local waste goes for incineration but as the strips contain blood are they classed as medical waste and should they go elsewhere? What does everyone do?


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## Pine Marten (Sep 7, 2018)

I use the Codefree meter and when I open a new tub of strips I use the old tub to put the used strips (and lancets when I remember to change them!) in. Then it just goes in the bin - it's a tiny bit of blood anyway, and no more than what you would get from using a plaster.


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## Carolg (Sep 7, 2018)

Pine Marten said:


> I use the Codefree meter and when I open a new tub of strips I use the old tub to put the used strips (and lancets when I remember to change them!) in. Then it just goes in the bin - it's a tiny bit of blood anyway, and no more than what you would get from using a plaster.


That’s what I do as well. Put the lancets in pointy side down


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## Ljc (Sep 7, 2018)

Hi. My used strips go in the general waste , my reasoning is that their is no more blood on them than on a used plaster.  I don’t put my used lancets in the sharps bin either.


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## travellor (Sep 7, 2018)

I got a yellow sharps bin off my GP. I haven't filled it yet, so can't actually say how to dispose of that though.


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## Ljc (Sep 7, 2018)

travellor said:


> I got a yellow sharps bin off my GP. I haven't filled it yet, so can't actually say how to dispose of that though.


@travellor .   It depends on your area . in mine I contact my  council to arrange collection and delivery of sharps bin , if you find it’s the same in your area , it’s best to allow plenty of time , say around a month for *the first* collection and delivery as the council will probably want to cont@ct your gp pr@ctice . In other areas you take them to Gp practice or pharmacy.

Your chemist or Gp receptionist should be able to advise


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## everydayupsanddowns (Sep 7, 2018)

You should check with your local authority for their advice. 

Strips are fine in general waste I believe (similarities to plasters etc) - I’m not sure what happens if you have a diagnosis where this may be problematic like Hepatitis or whatever though. 

Used lancets DO need to go in a sharps bin though (unless they are the type where it’s a cylinder and no sharp is accessible). Different areas differ, but I gather some pharmacies / GP surgeries allow you to drop sharps in a bin they have if you don’t produce enough to warrant a whole bin yourself. 

Long gone are the days when it was sufficient to put them in an old bleach bottle and tape it shut! 

Best bet is to check your LA website.


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## Brando77 (Sep 7, 2018)

Pine Marten said:


> I use the Codefree meter and when I open a new tub of strips I use the old tub to put the used strips (and lancets when I remember to change them!) in. Then it just goes in the bin - it's a tiny bit of blood anyway, and no more than what you would get from using a plaster.


Exactly what I do


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## mikeyB (Sep 8, 2018)

I just brush used strips off the bedside table into my hand and chuck them in the bin. (I’m a Libre user, so fingerpricks are just for hypo correction.)

When you consider what else gets chucked in bins - chicken carcasses, dog poo bags, the remains of last night’s kebab, used feminine thingies, birds that the cat kills, I feel no qualms whatsoever about adding 0.5ml of dried blood, hepatitis or no.

That is common sense. Why on earth pussy foot around with stupid unnecessary hygiene?

What are they going to arrest you for? Endangering the health of rats rolling around in all the other filth?

Get real, folks


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## travellor (Sep 8, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> I just brush used strips off the bedside table into my hand and chuck them in the bin. (I’m a Libre user, so fingerpricks are just for hypo correction.)
> 
> When you consider what else gets chucked in bins - chicken carcasses, dog poo bags, the remains of last night’s kebab, used feminine thingies, birds that the cat kills, I feel no qualms whatsoever about adding 0.5ml of dried blood, hepatitis or no.
> 
> ...



I have no reason to justify what I do.
I follow procedure.
And I like hygiene.
I'm not a rat.


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## mikeyB (Sep 8, 2018)

I like hygiene too - where it is necessary. Or appropriate. It was drilled into me as a doctor. What you read was an authoritative medical opinion.


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## travellor (Sep 8, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> I like hygiene too - where it is necessary. Or appropriate. It was drilled into me as a doctor. What you read was an authoritative medical opinion.


Authoritative? Nah.


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## Northerner (Sep 8, 2018)

I just chuck my test strips in the bin. Can't remember what I do with lancets as mine come in a sealed drum of 6 and the last time I changed it is lost in the mists of time


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## khskel (Sep 8, 2018)

Strips in the bin and last Lancet languished all alone with the needles in the sharps container.


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## Northerner (Sep 8, 2018)

A poem... 

If all the test strips that I used
Were laid out tip to toe,
They’d stretch the length of England’s coast
From Kent to Plymouth Ho!

And if those strips were all piled up,
They’d climb into the sky
And form a constant hazard there
To pigeons flying by…!

Consider then, upon each strip
A drop of blood must fall.
There’d be enough, if gathered up
To fill the Albert Hall!

But what about the missing strips,
That give us sleepless nights?
You’ll find them hidden in the feet
Of socks and ladies tights!

How they get there, who can tell?
It’s one of life’s unknowns,
Perhaps transported on the waves
Emitted by our phones?

Or maybe in the quantum world
Where all dimensions meet,
They can’t resist the attractive force
Of diabetic feet!  

{c} Northerner, 2009


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## Sally71 (Sep 8, 2018)

The strips have clear plastic over the tip so you can't touch the tiny bit of blood anyway, so it's probably even less dangerous than the tissue you just chucked in the bin without a thought after you wiped up your cut finger with it, or the used plaster you removed after it had healed. I agree with the majority here, strips in the bin, lancets in a sharps bin, unless they are the drum ones with no pointy bits visible and then they just go in the normal bin too.

In our area I can just drop the full sharps bin off at the GP surgery and they will send it for disposal, and then I order a new bin on prescription.  In other areas the council will collect them, you have to make enquiries.


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## Carolg (Sep 8, 2018)

I lick my finger after testing....dirty dog that I am. Tell me please, when injecting insulin, do you change the needle each time. (It will be mixed insulin so twice a day)


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## grovesy (Sep 8, 2018)

Sally71 said:


> The strips have clear plastic over the tip so you can't touch the tiny bit of blood anyway, so it's probably even less dangerous than the tissue you just chucked in the bin without a thought after you wiped up your cut finger with it, or the used plaster you removed after it had healed. I agree with the majority here, strips in the bin, lancets in a sharps bin, unless they are the drum ones with no pointy bits visible and then they just go in the normal bin too.
> 
> In our area I can just drop the full sharps bin off at the GP surgery and they will send it for disposal, and then I order a new bin on prescription.  In other areas the council will collect them, you have to make enquiries.


Some areas they charge for collection.


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## Northerner (Sep 8, 2018)

Carolg said:


> I lick my finger after testing....dirty dog that I am. Tell me please, when injecting insulin, do you change the needle each time. (It will be mixed insulin so twice a day)


I always change my needle every time, although some people will use the same one for a week or more  They do get blunt quite easily, and there's a slightly increased risk of infection from reuse.


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## Carolg (Sep 8, 2018)

Northerner said:


> I always change my needle every time, although some people will use the same one for a week or more  They do get blunt quite easily, and there's a slightly increased risk of infection from reuse.


Thanks northie, another question I don’t have to ask nurse


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2018)

Carolg said:


> I lick my finger after testing....dirty dog that I am. Tell me please, when injecting insulin, do you change the needle each time. (It will be mixed insulin so twice a day)


I change my needle every time unless I am low on them for some reason.


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## mikeyB (Sep 8, 2018)

I’m keeping quiet on needles to avoid frightening the purists. Mind you, I’m still using the flashy Swiss needles I managed to wheedle out the surgery on Mull. They are super sharp. I fear in the English cash strapped and privatised health service, I may be forbidden them. 

I’ll have to see what they cost on the net, I love them so much. It’s only an annual buy for a hundred anyway.


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## Bahallathegreat (Sep 8, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> I’m keeping quiet on needles to avoid frightening the purists. Mind you, I’m still using the flashy Swiss needles I managed to wheedle out the surgery on Mull. They are super sharp. I fear in the English cash strapped and privatised health service, I may be forbidden them.
> 
> I’ll have to see what they cost on the net, I love them so much. It’s only an annual buy for a hundred anyway.


NHS never want to part with anything exspencive lol


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## Bahallathegreat (Sep 8, 2018)

Oh and by the way I’m the same when test the blood I suck the finger I think all diabetic s become vampire ‍♀️ at some point


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## Ljc (Sep 8, 2018)

Carolg said:


> I lick my finger after testing....dirty dog that I am. Tell me please, when injecting insulin, do you change the needle each time. (It will be mixed insulin so twice a day)


I’m a licker too


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## Maz2 (Sep 11, 2018)

The newer lancets should be OK for general waste as you cannot get a needlestick injury with them, you have to actually prick your finger yourself.  Used strips as has been said are no worse than a plaster.  It is a good idea to use the old strip container - had not thought of that.


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