County Executive Maggie Brooks and Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn announced that the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Environmental Services (DES) are expanding the County’s pharmaceutical waste collection program.

Beginning tomorrow, Monroe County residents can drop off their unused, unwanted and/or expired medications to the Sheriff’s A-Zone Substation at 789 Linden Avenue in the Town of Pittsford on the second Tuesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“Pharmaceutical waste drop-offs at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s Substations show how the County continues to provide residents the opportunity to safely discard of any unused and/or expired prescriptions and over-the-counter medications,” said Brooks. “These collections also educate our residents that the safest way to dispose of pharmaceuticals is to bring them to a County drop-off so they can properly be destroyed.”

Residents can also drop off their pharmaceutical waste to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office B-Zone Substation at 245 Summit Point Drive in Henrietta on the first Tuesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“Collections at our substations provide residents with a location to safely and securely dispose of any medicines they are currently not using,” said O’Flynn. “These drop-offs also show how the Sheriff’s Office is exploring new ways to ensure the safety of our citizens by keeping potentially harmful pharmaceuticals off the streets and out of our landfills and water supply.”

Sheriff’s Deputies oversee the drop-offs which are free and open to the public. Also, no appointment is needed. Residents are asked to black out any personal information (not the medication name or dosage) on their prescription and over-the-counter medication containers. All medicines will be destroyed by an incineration process which is administered by law enforcement.

Since last October, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s B-Zone has collected more than 700 pounds of controlled substances from over 130 residents. The County DES also plans on holding five free pharmaceutical waste collections beginning this spring. For a full schedule, residents can call County DES at 753-7600 (option #3) or check out Monroe County’s household hazardous waste appointment scheduler at www.MonroeCounty.gov/HHW.