Winn-Dixie Offers Mail-In Drug Disposal Service

CHRISTINA VEIDERS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Winn-Dixie Stores here announced Monday it is offering a new service for consumers to dispose of their unused, unwanted or expired non-controlled prescription or over-the-counter medications. Controlled medications are excluded from this program because of current federal regulations.

Winn-Dixie will sell pre-paid medication disposal envelopes from Sharps Compliance Corp., a Houston-based medical waste management service, for $2.99 at its pharmacies. Sharps' TakeAway Environmental Return System allows consumers to mail through the U.S. Postal Service their unused drugs for proper disposal at Sharps' treatment facility. Sharps drug disposal retail service was launched last year at Walgreens. Since then, Rite Aid and Kroger are offering the service.

Environmental concerns over drug contamination of water, teenage drug abuse and the number of deaths associated with misuse of prescription drugs as well as an increase in drug disposal legislation has led to the emergence of this new mail-in system, Deborah Pawlowski, a spokesperson for Sharps, told SN.