Expired or leftover ordinary medicines (tablets and capsules) can go straight into a designated garbage bag for the garbage truck to take to incineration; liquid medicine must first be poured into a zip-top bag containing coffee grounds, tea leaves or newspaper, then sealed before disposal, and must never be poured into the toilet or sink. Injectables, anti-tumor drugs, antibiotics, hormone drugs and controlled drugs are "special medicines" (特殊藥品) and must be taken back to a medical institution or pharmacy for collection. Used needles must not be mixed with ordinary garbage or recyclables: the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection asks residents to hand them to the medical facility at a follow-up visit, or to take them to a pharmacy displaying the "household waste medicine collection station" (居家廢棄藥物檢收站) emblem.
Reminder: Needles and sharps mixed into garbage bags can injure sanitation workers. First put them in a hard, puncture-resistant container with a lid, then return them to the hospital or to a collection station pharmacy. The items that hospitals and pharmacies accept, and the containers they accept, are not necessarily the same, so phone before you go. Rules are subject to the latest announcements of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and of the health departments and environmental protection departments of Taipei and New Taipei.
Sort first: what goes in the trash and what goes back
A TFDA press release of January 10, 2024 divides medicines to be discarded into "special medicines" and "ordinary medicines". The table below is compiled from explanations by the TFDA, the New Taipei City health department (新北市政府衛生局) and Taipei’s household waste medicine collection stations:
| Type of medicine | Examples | How to handle |
|---|
| Ordinary medicine: tablets, capsules | Cold medicine, stomach medicine, painkillers, leftover chronic-disease medicine | Throw directly into the garbage bag to be incinerated with ordinary garbage (TFDA); you can also follow the 6 steps below, taking the pills out of their foil packaging and mixing them with tea leaves or coffee grounds before discarding |
| Ordinary medicine: liquids, syrups | Children’s cold syrup, cough syrup | "Put, pour, throw" (放、倒、丟): first put an absorbent material in a zip-top bag, pour in the liquid medicine, seal it, and throw it out with ordinary garbage; never pour it into the toilet or sink |
| Special medicines | Injectables, anti-tumor drugs, antibiotics, hormone drugs, controlled drugs | Take back to a medical institution or pharmacy for collection (TFDA) |
| Needles and sharps | Insulin pen needles, injection needles | The New Taipei City health department classes them as special medicines, to be taken back to a medical institution or pharmacy; for Taipei, see "How to dispose of needles and syringes" below |
| Empty medicine bags and bottles | Rinsed liquid medicine bottles, clean medicine bags | Recycle according to the recycling sorting rules (TFDA) |
Do not put medicine in the food waste bin either. The New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department FAQ states that medicine is not suitable for pig feed or composting, so do not mix it into food waste. For which category of recyclable an empty medicine bottle belongs to, see how to sort recycling.
The TFDA’s disposal steps: "put, pour, throw" and the 6 steps
TFDA press releases of 2023 and 2024 use 3 steps, mainly for handling liquid medicine:
- Put: put an absorbent material, such as sand, coffee grounds, tea leaves or newspaper, into a zip-top bag or plastic bag.
- Pour: pour the liquid medicine into the bag and seal it securely.
- Throw: put the sealed bag into a garbage bag to be incinerated with ordinary garbage; other medicine packaging or containers are recycled as required.
A TFDA press release of May 11, 2016 breaks the whole process into 6 steps, handling tablets and liquid medicine together, and the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department FAQ describes it in similar terms:
- Pour the remaining liquid medicine into a zip-top bag, or tie a used plastic bag tightly.
- Rinse the liquid medicine bottle with water and pour the rinse water into the zip-top bag as well.
- Take the remaining pills out of their foil packaging and medicine bags and gather them in the zip-top bag.
- Add used tea leaves, coffee grounds or used paper hand towels, and mix them with the liquid medicine and pills.
- Seal the zip-top bag and throw it out with ordinary garbage (the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department states to put it in a designated garbage bag, tie it up securely and put it into the garbage truck).
- Recycle the clean medicine bags and liquid medicine bottles under the garbage sorting rules.
The following is this article’s suggestion, not an official rule: medicine bags are printed with your name, illness and medication, so before discarding or recycling them you may want to black out or tear off that personal information.
Which medicines should be thrown away? The TFDA’s 2024 press release lists three kinds: medicine left over after the course of treatment ended without being finished; non-prescription medicines (指示藥 or 成藥) that have expired or deteriorated (changed color, crumbled, absorbed moisture); and medicine that has been open too long. Bottled oral medicine or topical ointment opened more than half a year ago, eye drops (or eye ointment) or liquid medicine opened more than 1 month ago, or any medicine you cannot remember when you opened, is recommended to be discarded. Do not share leftover medicine with relatives or friends to take.
Which medicines to take back to a pharmacy or hospital
The nationwide list (TFDA): injectables, anti-tumor drugs, antibiotics, hormone drugs and controlled drugs. The TFDA’s 2016 press release additionally states that anti-tumor drugs should be returned to the original medical institution, to be handled as "medical waste" (醫療廢棄物).
Taipei: the "household waste medicine collection stations" announced by the Shilin, Neihu and other district health service centers (健康服務中心) have pharmacists help sort and collect five categories: antibiotics, hormone drugs, anticancer and immunosuppressant drugs, liquid medicine, and discarded needles and sharps. You can take them to pharmacies displaying the "臺北市居家廢棄藥物檢收站" emblem. Waste medicines outside the five categories are handled as ordinary household garbage after the outer packaging is removed. The lists of participating pharmacies are on each district health service center’s website; the Shilin district health service center page says there are 33 in total, but the data on that page was last updated in February 2017, so go by the latest list for the current number.
New Taipei: the New Taipei City health department’s page "Correctly handling discarded medicines and needles" (正確處理廢棄藥品及針具) lists the special medicines as needles and sharps, anti-tumor drugs, antibiotics, hormone drugs and controlled drugs, to be taken back to a medical institution or pharmacy. The New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department FAQ adds that cytotoxic and other drugs that cause or may cause cancer must be handed to a household collection station at a pharmacy or to a medical institution; for related questions, call the New Taipei City health department at 02-2257-7155.
The following is this article’s suggestion: before taking medicines back, keep medicines of the same category together and keep the original packaging or medicine bag, which makes it easier for the pharmacist to identify them, especially controlled drugs.
How to dispose of needles and syringes
The Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection FAQ (updated 2026-08-21) says that needles produced by households should in principle be handed to the medical facility at a follow-up visit, to be handled together with the facility’s infectious business waste, or taken to a pharmacy displaying the "居家廢棄藥物檢收站" emblem. A syringe that has not come into direct contact with blood or body fluids is ordinary waste: seal it and give it to the cleaning squad in a designated garbage bag. For related questions, call the department’s waste treatment management section (廢棄物處理管理科) at 02-2720-8889 ext. 7286 or 1796.
How should the container be prepared? A health education leaflet from the pharmacy department of the Zhongxiao campus of Taipei City Hospital (臺北市立聯合醫院忠孝院區) suggests:
- Prepare a bottle or can with a lid that resists puncturing, such as a plastic bottle or tin can with a lid.
- Drop each needle into the container right after use, close the lid tightly and keep it in a safe place at home.
- When it is full, bring it back at your follow-up visit; do not squeeze it.
- Hand it in at the collection point designated by the hospital.
This leaflet reflects the practice of one campus of Taipei City Hospital and is not a citywide rule; the containers accepted by each facility are not necessarily the same, so ask the hospital or pharmacy that prescribed your medicine first.
Taipei and New Taipei compared
| Item | Taipei City | New Taipei City |
|---|
| Ordinary tablets and capsules | Handled as ordinary household garbage after removing the outer packaging (collection station explanation) | Mixed with tea leaves or coffee grounds and sealed, then put into a designated garbage bag for the garbage truck (Environmental Protection Department) |
| Liquid medicine | Collection station pharmacies can accept "liquid medicine"; you can also follow the TFDA’s "put, pour, throw" | Follow "put, pour, throw"; do not pour it into the toilet or sink (health department) |
| Antibiotics, hormone drugs, anticancer drugs | Sorted and collected by collection station pharmacies | Take back to a medical institution or pharmacy (health department) |
| Needles and sharps | Hand to a medical facility at a follow-up visit, or to a collection station pharmacy (Environmental Protection Department) | Take back to a medical institution or pharmacy (health department) |
| Inquiries | Each district health service center publishes the list of collection station pharmacies; citizen hotline 1999 | New Taipei City health department 02-2257-7155 |
For how to buy the designated garbage bags used for ordinary medicines and how much they cost, see how much designated garbage bags cost in Taipei and New Taipei; to see where a New Taipei garbage truck is right now, use the real-time garbage truck position tool. If you are unsure how to dispose of a single item, use how to dispose of garbage: sorting and collection lookup.
FAQ
Can I flush expired medicine down the toilet?
No. The TFDA and the New Taipei City health department both state that liquid medicine must never be poured into the toilet or sink; the TFDA’s 2016 press release also lists the principle of "do not discard carelessly, do not pour into the sink, do not flush down the toilet".
If I haven’t finished my antibiotics, can I just throw them in the trash?
No. The TFDA classes antibiotics as special medicines, to be taken back to a medical institution or pharmacy. Taipei’s household waste medicine collection stations also list antibiotics among the five categories they collect.
Does every pharmacy accept discarded medicine?
Not necessarily. Taipei asks residents to take them to pharmacies displaying the "臺北市居家廢棄藥物檢收站" emblem, and the list is published by each district health service center. For New Taipei, contact the health department at 02-2257-7155, or first phone the pharmacy where you usually pick up your medicine.
Can I use a PET plastic bottle for insulin needles?
The suggestion this article found comes from the health education leaflet of the Zhongxiao campus of Taipei City Hospital: use a bottle or can with a lid that resists puncturing, such as a plastic bottle or tin can with a lid, and when it is full bring it back at your follow-up visit without squeezing it. This article did not find a container specification designated by the Taipei or New Taipei health departments or environmental protection departments; the containers accepted differ by hospital, so check before you go.
How do I dispose of empty medicine bottles and finished medicine bags?
The TFDA asks people to recycle clean medicine bags and rinsed liquid medicine bottles according to the garbage sorting rules.
Last updated: 2026-11-01
This article was compiled by SOSfix editors from public information and is for general reference only; for individual cases, contact the Taipei City health department, the New Taipei City health department, the environmental protection departments of Taipei and New Taipei, or the medical facility and pharmacy that prescribed your medicine.
Sources
- Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare: New Year! Three tips for storing and discarding medicine correctly (in Chinese; 新年到！藥品正確儲存及丟棄三撇步; published 2024-01-10, verified 2026-11-01): the list of special medicines (injectables, anti-tumor drugs, antibiotics, hormone drugs, controlled drugs), ordinary medicines can be thrown into the garbage for incineration, liquid medicine must not be poured into the toilet or sink, the put-pour-throw steps, which medicines are recommended for disposal, and the time limits after opening.
- Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare: Let the TFDA teach you how to store and handle medicine at home (in Chinese; 讓食藥署教您如何保存與處理家中藥品; published 2023-02-15, verified 2026-11-01): the 3 steps "put, pour, throw" for discarding medicine, and examples of absorbent materials.
- Taiwan Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare: Rainy summer, how to handle medicine at home (in Chinese; 夏雨綿綿，家中藥品處理報你哉; published 2016-05-11, verified 2026-11-01): the 6 steps for leftover medicine, not pouring it into the sink or toilet, anti-tumor drugs returned to the original medical institution to be handled as medical waste, and leftover medicine not to be shared with relatives and friends.
- New Taipei City health department: Correctly handling discarded medicines and needles, and carrying out sorted recycling (in Chinese; 正確處理廢棄藥品及針具，落實分類回收; verified 2026-11-01): New Taipei’s special medicines include needles and sharps and are taken back to a medical institution or pharmacy; the put-pour-throw steps for ordinary medicine.
- New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department: How should residents handle leftover medicine at home? (in Chinese; 一般民眾家中的剩餘藥物如何處理？; 2018-10-08, verified 2026-11-01): how New Taipei handles leftover medicine, the designated garbage bag put into the garbage truck, not mixing it into food waste, cytotoxic medicines going to collection stations or medical institutions, and the health department’s telephone number.
- Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection FAQ: How should residents dispose of medical syringes used after injecting at home? (in Chinese; 市民於家中注射過後的醫療針筒，該如何丟棄？; data updated 2026-08-21, verified 2026-11-01): household needles handed to a medical facility at a follow-up visit or to a collection station pharmacy, syringes that have not touched blood or body fluids being ordinary waste, and the inquiry telephone numbers.
- Taipei City Shilin District Health Service Center: household waste medicine collection stations (in Chinese; 臺北市居家廢棄藥物檢收站; data updated 2017-02-15, verified 2026-11-01): the five categories collected, emblem pharmacies, medicines outside the five categories handled as ordinary garbage after removing the outer packaging, and 33 in Shilin (2017 data).
- Taipei City Neihu District Health Service Center: Neihu household waste medicine collection stations (in Chinese; 內湖區居家廢棄藥物檢收站; website updated 2026-10-31, verified 2026-11-01): the same description of the five categories collected.
- Taipei City Hospital Zhongxiao Campus pharmacy department: safe collection of discarded medicines and injection needles (health education leaflet PDF, around 2011, verified 2026-11-01; in Chinese; 廢棄藥物和注射針頭安全檢收): needles held in a puncture-resistant container with a lid, not squeezed, and brought back to the designated collection point at a follow-up visit.
