Expired or unused medicines: how to get rid of them safely

Clearing out the medicine cabinet takes about 15 minutes. Here's where each item goes.

The answer in 2 lines. The best option for most expired or unused medicines, prescription or over-the-counter, is a take-back program: a drop box at a pharmacy or police station, a mail-back envelope, or a DEA Take Back Day. If none is available, check the FDA flush list. Only the medicines on that list should be flushed. Everything else can go in the household trash, mixed with something unappealing and sealed in a bag. Needles never go in a drop box or loose in the trash.

The 3 steps

Pull out everything that's expired or no longer needed: pills, liquids, creams, patches, sprays. Check each label or leaflet for disposal instructions.
Find a take-back option. Ask your pharmacist whether the store has a drop box or free mail-back envelopes, or use the FDA's take-back locations page, which links to a DEA search by ZIP code for year-round collection sites.
No take-back option nearby? Check the FDA flush list. Flush only the medicines on that list. Use the trash method below for everything else.

Stop: danger

A child or adult swallowed a medicine by mistake: call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, free and 24/7. If the person has collapsed, has a seizure, or has trouble breathing or staying awake, call 911.
A pet got into medicine: call your veterinarian or an emergency animal hospital right away.
Strong opioid pain medicines (most of the FDA flush list) can be dangerous, even deadly, after a single dose for a child or pet. Don't leave them sitting in a drawer once you no longer need them.

What goes where

Item	Where it goes
Most medicines, expired or not, prescription or over-the-counter	Take-back drop box, mail-back envelope or Take Back Day
Medicines on the FDA flush list, when no take-back option is readily available	Toilet, as the FDA list says
Other medicines, when no take-back option is available	Household trash, using the method below
Needles, syringes, lancets, auto-injector pens	An FDA-cleared sharps container, then your state or local sharps program. Not in a drug drop box.
Empty pill bottles	Scratch out your name and Rx number, then throw away or reuse
Old mercury thermometer	Your city or county household hazardous waste program

What not to do

Flushing medicines or pouring them down the sink when they're not on the FDA flush list: residues can pollute water.
Throwing pills loose in the trash, where a child, pet or someone else can find them.
Giving your leftover prescription to a friend or relative: it was prescribed for you only.
Putting needles or lancets loose in the trash or recycling, or recapping or bending someone else's needles.

The trash method, step by step

When there's no take-back option and the medicine isn't on the flush list, MedlinePlus and the FDA describe this method:

Take the pills out of their containers. Don't crush tablets or capsules.
Mix them with something unappealing, like used coffee grounds, dirt or cat litter.
Seal the mix in a plastic bag or a container that won't leak, and put it in the household trash.
Scratch out your personal information and Rx number on the empty bottle before you throw it away or recycle it.

Needles and other sharps

Drop each used needle into a sharps container right after use, and don't fill it past the line. Rules for getting rid of full containers vary by state and community: drop-off sites, special pickups or mail-back programs, which usually charge a fee. See the FDA's dos and don'ts of sharps disposal, and ask your pharmacist or your city or county what's available near you.

The numbers (latest published)

642,410 pounds of unwanted medicines were collected at the 30th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 25, 2026, according to the DEA, with 21,034,225 pounds collected since the program began in 2010.
The 31st Take Back Day was held on October 24, 2026. Its results had not been published when we checked. Outside those days, the DEA says more than 15,300 pharmacies, hospitals and businesses accept medicines year-round.
Rules vary by state: some states and counties run their own medicine collection programs. Check with your state health or environmental agency, or ask your pharmacist.

Good to know

Ask each take-back program what it doesn't accept: some exclude liquids, inhalers or sharps.
Some pharmacies hand out free prepaid mail-back envelopes for medicines. Ask at the counter.
Go through your medicine cabinet once a year, and write the opening date on liquids and drops: some only keep for a few weeks once opened (the label says).

In Columbus, Dana clears out her late father's medicine cabinet. She finds a drop box at her pharmacy using the FDA's link to the DEA search, and brings the pill bottles and liquids there. She keeps his used insulin pens in a sharps container and asks the pharmacist where her county takes full ones. The old mercury thermometer goes to the next household hazardous waste collection day.

A made-up story, for illustration.

Bobby

Sources, verification, confidence

Verified on November 6, 2026, for the United States. Confidence: high for the order of options (take-back, flush list, trash method) from the FDA and MedlinePlus, and for the April 2026 DEA total; medium for local options (sharps, mercury, state programs), which vary by state and county. Results of the October 2026 Take Back Day were not yet published.