Syringe Source

[brainiac]

With the news that now over 8 million in the UK have received their first jab, if they are administered by single-use syringes, then where have they got the millions of syringes from? And what happens to them after they are put in the yellow sharps box after use?

[theprof]

Peter, I've been impressed by some specialised syringes made from PHBV with a smidgen of maleic anhydride and dicumyl peroxide grafted on via a torque rheometer. The polymer is degradable but right now, the cost is prohibitive and mass production is out of the question.

[Eve]

I do my own weekly injections with single use pre-filled pen devices, though I've used pre-filled syringes in the past. The whole thing goes in a sharps bin, which gets collected when full.

I always assumed the contents got incinerated. I was never sure if it included the plastic sharps bin itself, or if the bins are emptied and disposed of separately.

[TonyV]

Eve I would have thought the whole sharps bin gets destroyed along with the contents. No ones going to want to be sifting through a sharps bin.

[lankeela]

Surely as there are many different types of injectable medications there will already be many manufacturers and stocks of syringes.

[woofgang]

Eve, sharps bins are designed to be closed when full and impossible to open again. The whole thing gets incinerated and then the metal is removed from the ashes.