Provision of drop boxes for the standard stewardship plan
Provision of up to four hundred secure drop boxes for retail pharmacies and law enforcement agencies willing to participate as drop-off sites will be provided for the standard stewardship plan by the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County.
It is anticipated that this provision will be as a reimbursement to the stewardship plan operator based on actual costs for collection receptacles up to a not-to-exceed figure based on assessment of currently available options and pricing. Our current estimate is that each drop box will cost roughly $700.
Producer responsibility
A producer or group of producers participating in the standard stewardship plan or an independent stewardship plan shall pay all administrative and operational costs related to their stewardship plan which includes:
• Collection and transportation supplies for each drop-off site;
• Purchase of all secure drop boxes for drop-off sites in any independent stewardship plan (reimbursement to be provided by King County for purchase of up to 400 drop boxes in the standard stewardship plan);
• Purchase of additional secure drop boxes needed for drop-off sites in the standard stewardship plan beyond the four hundred whose costs are to be covered by King County;
• Ongoing maintenance or replacement of secure drop boxes, as requested by collectors;
• Prepaid, preaddressed mailers provided to differentially-abled and home bound residents, and to specific areas of the county if utilized;
• Operating periodic collection events if utilized, including costs of law enforcement staff time if necessary;
• Transportation of all collected pharmaceuticals to final disposal, including costs of law enforcement escort if necessary;
• Environmentally sound disposal of all collected pharmaceuticals;
• Program promotion;
• All fees to cover King County’s plan review and oversight costs.
Learn more about King County’s fees
Not included in a stewardship plan
• Producers are not required to pay for costs of staff time at drop-off sites provided by collectors volunteering for a stewardship plan.
• No person or producer may charge a specific point-of-sale fee to consumers to recoup the costs of their stewardship plan, nor may they charge a specific point-of-collection fee at the time the covered drugs are collected from covered entities.
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This overview provides general information. For specific requirements of the Secure Medicine Return Regulations see Board of Health Chapter 11.50.