There’s a new, easy way to dispose of needles in town.
A needle disposal box has been installed outside the Porcupine Health Unit’s office on Pine Street South downtown Timmins. The bright yellow container is clearly marked for needles and is accessible 24 hours a day.
“This is for any individuals in the community that may find syringes or any individual that uses syringes,” said Mary France Caron-Bruneau, sexual health and harm reduction program co-ordinator.
“If individuals are using syringes for injection of drugs or other substances they can certainly safely dispose of them and bring them back here.”
Disposal boxes, she said, are found in many cities, with Timmins being the last larger centre in northern Ontario to get one.
Through talking to the city and meeting with community partners, she said they heard that needles have been found in the community. She anticipates there will be more disposal box sites in Timmins in the near future.
“This is the first of many, hopefully. This is a partnership with the city, they did help us install the box and we’re piloting it here at the health unit to see how successful it will be as far as fewer sharps found in the community either by public works city workers or by individuals,” she said.
The disposal box can hold over 4,000 needles and the drop off opening is big enough to fit a Javex bottle.
“For communities who are just starting up, typically the company that we purchase from indicated that it would take about three to four months to fill the 65-litre container that’s inside that disposal box,” she said.
If you find a needle outside, Caron-Bruneau said people can call the health unit for a community clean up kit with tongs, a sharps container and education on how to pick it up safely.
If you’re picking it up on your own, she said “we encourage that they use pliers and that they pick it up not from the needle side, but the plunger side and that they put it in a closeable hard container.”
