After use, hypodermic needles should not be recapped, clipped or removed from disposable syringes. The complete assembly should be placed in a sharps disposal container. Disposable syringes, used alone or with needles, should be placed in sharps disposal containers and incinerated, with prior autoclaving if required.
Sharps disposal containers must be puncture-proof/-resistant and must not be filled to capacity. When they are three-quarters full they should be placed in “infectious waste” containers and incinerated, with prior autoclaving if laboratory practice requires.
Sharps disposal containers must not be discarded in landfills.
Contaminated (potentially infectious) materials for autoclaving and reuse:
No pre-cleaning should be attempted of any contaminated (potentially infectious) materials to be autoclaved and reused. Any necessary cleaning or repair must be done only after autoclaving or disinfection.