Residential Sharps Collection Program

Administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA or Agency) Materials Management and Compliance Section (MMCS), The Solid Waste Management Fund (SWMF) provides funding for conducting household waste collection and disposal programs. See 415 ILCS 5/22.15(i). Sharps collected from private citizens are a household waste. Illinois EPA MMCS intends to reimburse units of local government that operate a sharps collection station, as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, for expenses incurred in collection, storing, and disposing of used sharps. Eligible expenses include costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents if not otherwise available from the Agency), collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by an appropriately permitted potentially infectious medical waste (PIMW) transporter to pick up collected sharps, and disposal fees for the collected sharps. Each unit of local government is eligible for the actual costs of sharps collection and disposal, up to $35,000.00.