Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday at Rye PD HQ

Rye residents can dispose of unwanted or expired medications on this Saturday, April 24th by brining them to a designated collection box at Rye Police Headquarters at 21 McCullough Place in downtown Rye by the train station.

Safely disposing of unused or expired pills, liquid medications and ointments keeps them from being misused and keeps people and pets safe from accidental poisoning. It also protects our drinking water, rivers, streams and aquatic life. You should never flush medications.

Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows year after year, that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from a home medicine cabinet.

Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, but in fact the collection box for unwanted meds is available (and has been available) at Rye PD 24/7/365.

Residents can also bring unwanted medications to Westchester County’s Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) will provide residents with the opportunity to dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medications at the Household Hazardous-Material Recovery Facility (H-MRF) in Valhalla by appointment from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents must wear masks and can drive through and drop off their medications, which should be in their original containers, if possible, or placed inside sealed plastic bags. The H-MRF is located on the County’s Valhalla Campus at 15 Woods Road in Valhalla.

In 2020, DEF collected and safely disposed of 5,954 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter medications through collection events at the H-MRF. Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 493 tons (985,392 pounds) of unused or expired prescription drugs and vape devices at nearly 4,600 sites operated by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (USDEA), and nearly 4,200 of its state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, since 2010, USDEA and its partners have taken in nearly 13.7 million pounds of pills and liquid medicine.

DEF accepts medications by appointment on the first Tuesday of each month at the H-MRF.  For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit https://environment.westchestergov.com/facilities/h-mrf or contact the Recycling HelpLine at (914) 813-5425 or 211. The DEF also accepts all sorts of other hazardous material that should not and by law cannot go into your household garbage – see the list and go green.