It's against the law to throw syringes in the garbage. Instead, drop discarded syringes and sharps containers at any of the free 24-hour sharps drop boxes listed below, or take them to a Metro Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
Do not dispose of medical sharps or other waste in syringe disposal boxes intended for community disposal. If you have questions about medical waste disposal or find an illegal dump on public property, contact Metro at 503-234-3000. If you find discarded syringes in Portland’s city center and don’t feel comfortable picking it up, call Downtown Clean & Safe at 503-388-3888 to report the waste.
Free 24-hour syringe drop boxes
- Waterfront Park Esplanade, under the west side Burnside Bridge
- Multnomah County Building, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland
- Multnomah County Bridge Shop, 1403 SE Water Ave, Portland
- Belmont Library parking lot, 1038 SE Cesar Estrada Chavez Blvd, Portland
- Holgate Library parking lot, 7905 SE Holgate Blvd, Portland
Midland Library parking lot*, 805 SE 122nd Ave, Portland(please note: this box is temporarily unavailable due to construction)- St. Johns Fire Station, 7205 North Alta St., Portland
- Lents Fire Station, 5707 SE 92nd Ave., Portland
- Clackamas Service Center, 8800 SE 80th Ave.
- North by Northeast Community Health Center, 714 NE Alberta St.
- Woodstock Fire Station, 5211 SE Mall St., Portland
- Multnomah Village Fire Station, 8720 SW 30th Ave.
- Francis and Clare Commons, SE 11th Ave. and SE Oak St.
- Transition Projects, on NW Irving, between NW 6th Ave. and Broadway
- Greyhound bus station, NW Glisan St., between NW 5th and 6th Avenues
- SW 2nd Ave and Ash St., near Skidmore Fountain
- NW Davis St., Between NW 4th and 5th Avenues
- Multnomah County Department of Community Justice East Campus, 1245 SE 122nd Ave.
Other syringe drop sites
Metro accepts all discarded syringes, including medical waste. Do not dispose of household medical sharps or other waste in syringe disposal boxes intended for community disposal. For households where syringes are used, place syringes in a sharps container and take them to a hazardous waste center:
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Metro Central at 6161 NW 61st Ave., Portland
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Metro South at 2001 Washington St., Oregon City
A $5 hazardous waste fee for up to 35 gallons is required at Metro facilities. Enroll in the Metro syringe disposal program for $5 and get a free sharps container each time you return one.
Group homes, residential care facilities and other commercial or business customers should contact a medical waste management company, their garbage hauler or Metro’s recycling hotline for disposal options.
If you have questions about medical waste disposal, contact Metro at 503-234-3000.
