NYC sanitation workers fed up with being pricked by weight-loss drug needles

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The rising popularity of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic have become such a hazard for New York City’s strongest that officials are cracking down on people who throw loose injector pens in the trash.

The sanitation department on Wednesday announced plans to raise the fine for throwing uncovered syringes or medical needles out with household trash from $100 to $250. At least 49 sanitation workers have been stuck by needles so far this year — up from 25 who got pricked on the job in all of 2019, according to the agency. Over the last three years, 140 workers have suffered on-the-job needle injuries, data shows.

Sanitation Commissioner Gregory Anderson urged the public to follow regulations that require any household needle to be thrown out in a “sharps” container or some other puncture-resistant receptacle like a laundry detergent bottle, which should be sealed and labeled “home sharps” before it goes in the trash.

During an event on Staten Island this week, Anderson recorded a video laying out the rules while he held up a bag of used GLP-1 needles.

“If you want to get rid of needles or syringes, you must do it the right way,” he said. “Never put them in your recycling or attempt to flush them down a toilet.”

Discarded needles used to be more associated with illegal drug use. But now needles are increasingly likely to enter the trash stream through weight loss drugs. A Gallup analysis released last month estimated 11% of adults in the U.S. were taking GLP-1 medications.

“We do not have data on the types of needles involved in these injuries, but it is certainly plausible that the sharp increase in needle-stick injuries correlates with the recent increase in GLP-1 injectable medications,” sanitation department spokesperson Vincent Gragnani wrote in a statement.

Fines issued by sanitation inspectors for improper disposal of household waste such as needles have climbed in 2026, with inspectors issuing 34 fines for the violation. That’s compared to an average of 12 such fines each year from 2016 to 2024.

Dominick Romeo, a building super in Chelsea, said he saw the needles become an issue soon after they began to grow in popularity following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Romeo also said he tries to initiate a conversation about proper disposal of the needles with tenants who receive packages that likely contain the drugs. He said legal weight loss drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy come in pens that are less likely to prick him in the garbage. But he noted that other vendors — like those that sell unregulated weight loss drugs or peptides — can ship drugs with dangerous needles.

“I’ve been finding them in the recycling bin. They think it’s a nice thing to leave it right on top of all the cans. But sometimes you’re not going to see it,” Romeo said.

Retired sanitation worker and sanitation teamsters union honcho Harry Nespoli said that needle pricks have been a threat since he started collecting trash in the 1980s, well before the advent of Ozempic.

“I got stuck with one coming through a plastic bag and it hit me in the thigh,” he said. “Problem is, people are lazy. What’s easier — store all these needles on their counter or just stick them in the garbage?”

“I've heard it in every garage I went to. People got hit. Our guys got hit, our women got hit by these needles,” Nespoli added.

Any hospital or nursing home must accept needles so long as they are in a carefully sealed container labelled “home sharps,” according to the sanitation department.

The problem has been an issue all over the city in recent years, Nespoli said.

"I've been fighting that since before I retired,” he said.

Sanitation officials said that the city’s plan to put all residential garbage in secure containers serviced by automated garbage trucks with mechanical arms will reduce the risk to workers.

Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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