Sharps containers are vital to the safe disposal of sharps wastes from veterinary medical facilities. The CDC estimates that there are up to 600,000+ needle stick injuries annually amongst US healthcare workers. Sharps waste include needles, scalpels, lancets, broken glass and other. Reusable sharps containers often are associated with a management service (i.e Stericycle or Daniels Health) for a complete solution to sharps waste. The reusable containers are collected and transported to a processing facility where the containers are emptied automatically and then conveyed to a hygienic cleaning station where a robotic system disinfects the containers under high temperature and pressure, rinse and dried. This meets US infectious disease elimination standards.
Reusable sharps containers have multiple benefits over standard sharps containers including:
1. Safety: Reusable sharp containers are more durable with enhanced safety features to prevent sharps injuries because the manufacturing cost is spread over up to 600+ uses compared to single use disposable containers. Safety features may include: larger openings, puncture and leak proof material, tamper proof locks, overfill protection, convenient carrying handles, and secure wall hanging anchors or stability bases to prevent dislodging the container. It is estimated that containers with enhanced engineering decrease container associated sharps injuries by 81-87%. When considering the consequence of bloodborne pathogen exposure from sharps injuries this reduced risk is of magnitudes importance.
2. Financial impact: The total cost over time is often substantially less when using reusable sharps containers, although this will depend on region and company used. The marked reduction in manufacture costs including resource use, energy expenditure, and waste costs for land disposal can be passed onto the consumer. The massive reduction in sharps container related injuries when using reusable containers also reduces costs of those injuries which are estimated to average more than $4,000 per individual in the USA.
3. Environmental impact: The environmental impact of disposable sharps containers is immense globally. It has been estimated that 35 million disposable and reusable sharps containers are made annually, with 93-98% of those going to landfill, or worse incinerated, being disposable. Some companies also provide a Carbon Footprint Estimator to determine your GHG emissions reduction when you switch from disposable to reusable sharps containers.
