SPRINGFIELD —Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Acting Director James Jennings today announced an additional $400,000 in funding available to units of local government to conduct collection and disposal of household sharps for their residents. With this funding, Illinois EPA has made $1 million available to units of local government for this program in calendar year 2024. Sharps, including needles, syringes, and lancets, collected from private citizens are a household waste. Through the grant program, Illinois EPA provides funding for grantees to operate a sharps collection station, as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, and disposal of the collected sharps as Potentially Infectious Medical Waste (PIMW) rather than comingled with other household items.
“We are encouraged by the number of units of local governments that have already applied or shown significant interest in this program,” said Acting Director Jennings. “Through this program, we are able to provide them with the necessary funding to offer a free option to dispose of medical sharps that protects residents and waste haulers from potentially serious illness or injury from mishandled needles.”
In March of 2024, Illinois EPA issued a NOFO in the amount of $600,000 for this new program and has already received and approved applications that will expend those funds. The additional funding will allow more units of local governments to establish collection programs in their communities. This funding opportunity will also cover costs for advertising sharps collection stations and costs for educational materials focused on proper disposal of sharps.
Grant funding of up to $35,000 per applicant is available to cover expenses incurred in collecting, storing, and disposing of used sharps. Eligible expenses include costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents, collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by a permitted PIMW transporter to pick-up collected sharps, and disposal fees for the collected sharps. All required forms and information can be found at: https://epa.illinois.gov/topics/waste-management/waste-disposal/medication-disposal/sharps/residential-sharps-collection-program.html.
Applications for the Residential Sharps Collection Program will be accepted until funding is expended or June 30, 2025. Applicants must be pre-qualified through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Grantee Portal.