Gosford Council has launched its 2014 Get Smart with Sharps reminder campaign to keep the community clean from needles and syringes.
Now in its sixth year, the award winning initiative manages the disposal of sharps by creating collection points at selected pharmacies as well as placing disposafit bins in accessible public areas to hold used needles and syringes.
Council’s waste services coordinator Mr James Lawson said that the program had been successful in increasing the safe disposal of sharps, since its inception in 2009. “The Get Smart With Sharps program focuses on promoting the safe and responsible disposal of community sharps including medical and intravenous sharps.
“The overall aim is to prevent needles from being irresponsibly discarded around Gosford City. “We want to ensure residents are aware of the options they have available when disposing sharps, so it can be done correctly and safely.
“Outside of established collection points at pharmacies or disposafit bins, there is also a Needle Cleanup Hotline to allow people to check their nearest disposal facility and report any sightings of needles or syringes in public places.
“In March this year, 84.5 kilograms of sharps were collected from participating pharmacies across Gosford City, an increase of approximately 12% over the same period in 2013.
“We hope we can continue to get more people on board to help make our city even smarter with sharps,” Mr Lawson said.
Media release, 28 Jul 2014
Gosford Council media