On April 5, 2019, the Director of the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health approved the MED-Project LLC document entitled, "A Product Stewardship Plan for Unwanted Medicine from Households, Alameda County, California", dated February 15, 2019, as revised March 27, 2019. This stewardship plan was submitted in compliance with the Alameda County Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance, Chapter 6.53 of Title 6, Alameda County General Ordinance Code.
Current Locations Where County Residents May Drop-Off Unwanted Prescription and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs and Used SHARPS
There are now 75 collection sites throughout Alameda County where residents can
drop-off their unwanted prescription and OTC drugs, including 42 sites where residents can also drop-off used Sharps. This updated information includes 69 sites now managed by the Alameda MED-Project Stewardship Organization, as well as four
Walgreen's stores where an independent unwanted drug collection program was initiated during 2016.
An updated listing of current drug drop-off locations can be found here: Drop-off Site List(PDF - 1.2mb)*
Stewardship Program Annual Reports - Safe Drug and Consumer-Generated Sharps Disposal Programs
Pursuant to Sec. 6.53.080 of the Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance and Section 6.54.120 of the Safe Consumer-Generated Sharps Disposal Ordinance, every Producer, group of Producers or
Stewardship Organization operating a Product Stewardship Program must submit to the Department an annual
written report describing the Program's activities during the previous reporting period. Below are the
Annual Reports and report supplements submitted to the Department, beginning with plans implemented
during 2015. The most recent additions are the 2018 MED-Project Annual Reports memorializing activities occurring during 2018 in both the Safe Drug and Safe Consumer-Generated Sharps Disposal programs. 2018 marks the first reporting year in the Sharps program.
Alameda MED-Project LLC Annual Reports and Report Supplements
Safe Drug & Consumer-Generated Sharps Disposal
Ordinances & Regulations
SAFE DRUG DISPOSAL
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed the Alameda County Safe Drug Disposal (SDD) Ordinance on
July 24, 2012. The Board of Supervisors subsequently approved amendments to the SDD Ordinance on February
2, 2016. The revised SDD Ordinance is effective March 3, 2016.
The Director of Environmental Health adopted revised SDD Regulations on October 16, 2013 following a
public hearing held on October 8, 2013. The revised SDD Regulations will assist efforts to implement,
administer and enforce the Alameda County Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance located at Title 6, Chapter 6.53
of the Alameda County General Ordinance. The Regulations will be revised to reflect the amended SDD
Ordinance, while also incorporating provisions to facilitate administration of the new SSD Ordinance.
A copy of the SDD Regulations with 2013 revisions can be found here: SDD Regulations(PDF - 7.4mb)*
SAFE CONSUMER-GENERATED SHARPS DISPOSAL
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed the Alameda County Safe Consumer-Generated Sharps
Disposal (SSD) Ordinance on November 15, 2015, adding Chapter 6.54 to the Alameda County General
Ordinance Code. The SSD Ordinance places certain requirements on pharmaceutical and Sharps manufacturers
that sell or distribute products in Alameda County usually intended for administration outside of a
healthcare setting. The SSD Ordinance took effect December 18, 2015. Regulations for the SSD Ordinance
are currently in development.
A copy of the SDD/SSD Fee Schedule can be found here: SDD/SSD Fee
Schedule(PDF - 48kb)*
List of 3rd Party Stewardship Plan Developers
The following is a 3rd party Stewardship Plan developer whose Plan for the collection and disposal of
unwanted Covered Drugs from Alameda County residents was approved by the Department on Feb, 25, 2015
following a Public Hearing. The Plan Owner has indicated that Producers interested in complying with the
SDD Ordinance requirements through participation in a 3rd Party Stewardship Plan may contact them about
joining their Plan.
Contact information for Plan developers:
The Pharmaceutical Product Stewardship Work Group (PPSWG) established a limited liability company, Alameda
MED-Project LLC, as the Stewardship Organization for their Plan, with updated contact information:
Victoria Travis, Program Director Alameda MED-Project LLC
4096 Piedmont Ave Unit 544
Oakland, CA 94611-5221
(510) 227-9798 alameda@med-project.org
Notification of participation with a
Product Stewardship Organization:
Companies who have joined a Product Stewardship Organization (PSO) that has submitted or will submit a
Plan in which they will participate, may use this form to notify the Department of their participation in
compliance with Section 4.B.ii of the Regulations. Each individual company or organization must be
identified and contact information included, even if it is a subsidiary or affiliate of another company.
Each individual company or organization must specifically confirm participation in a PSO. Companies may
also notify the Department by presenting the required Section 4.B.ii information on company letterhead in
lieu of the form.
A copy of the updated Product Stewardship Organization Notification Form can be found here: PSO Notification Form 2016(PDF -
34kb)*
The Alameda County Safe Medications Disposal
Initiative Assessment: 2007 - 2014
The Teleosis Institute, July 11, 2014
The Teleosis Institute completed a review of unwanted prescription drug collection and disposal data
since 2007 in Alameda County. The assessment provides both quantitative and qualitative insights into the
first seven years of the initiative's implementation offering policy advice for furthering successful
collection efforts in the future. Overall, data indicate an increase in unwanted prescription drugs
collected from residents over the period of this study, from 473 pounds collected from the initial ten
collection locations in 2009 to 13,919 pounds collected in 2013 from 31 locations, an average of 449
pounds per site annually.
