Summary of Pharmaceutical Take Back:
- Medication should NEVER be discarded down the drain.
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- Unused, expired and unwanted medication is a health and safety risk, as well as a potential threat to waterways.
- Since 2007 Police and Pharmacies offered collection programs for most medications with funding from the Illinois EPA.
- 2014 DEA reuglation changes expanded the types of medications pharmacies could accept subject to permit changes. More pharmacies began accepting medications from customers for disposal.
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Illinois EPA was funding dispsoal at a cost of nearly one million dollars annually.
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In 2022 the Illinois Drug Take Back law passed and by December 1, 2023, interested police department in Will County was eiligible to receive collection and destruction service through a manufacturers group. In addition private pharmacies were also eligible to be funded through Pharmaceutical manufactuers. The law allows every Illinois county to be entitled to at least one medication collection location per 50,000 residents, financed by pharmaceutical manufacturers. The groups are Inmar and MedProject.
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This law frees the Illinois EPA from collection and disposal resposibility, with a projectied savings of $1 million annually to be used for other collection programs. All Household Hazardous Waste collection sites, partially funded by the IEPA, have stopped collecting medication.
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DEA collection days are national events and may continue but Will County shall cease collections at our Household Hazardous Waste collection events at the end of 2023 in light of the Illinois Drug Take Back Act expanding collection throughout the area year round.
Protect the Water and Acquatic Life
This program protects Will County water resources, while reducing the materials going to local landfills. Each year thousands of tons of pharmaceuticals and personal care products enter the waste stream. Several United States Geological Survey studies over the past 7 years have found that many pharmaceuticals are surviving water treatment facilities and making their way into drinking water. The very medications that help people may be a concern to aquatic life.
Drop-Off Instructions
- Bring only residentially generated medication items. No medications from businesses or doctor’s offices can be taken.
- Use a permanent marker to black out your name or personal information on the label.
- Take medications to pharmacy or collection site during drop-off operation hours ONLY.
- Please follow directions at the drop-off site. Most sites have a collection kiosk.
- This is not a share or reuse opportunity. All medications received will be destroyed in the most environmentally sound manner possible.
Most up to date listing of locations may be found at SAFE MEDICATION RETURN
| Items Accepted (Expired or Unwanted) | Items NOT Accepted |
| Prescription Medications | Illegal Drugs |
| Over-the-Counter Medications | Bio-Hazardous Materials |
| Medicated Ointments | Sharps / Needles (see bottom of page) |
| Medicated Shampoos | Radioactive Materials |
| Liquids Containing Medications | Other Household Wastes |
| Prescription Inhalers | Glass Thermometers (contain mercury) |
| Over-the-Counter Inhalers | Medical devices containing mercury |
| Narcotic Medications | (blood pressure units, barometers, etc.) |
| Pet Medications | |
| | |
Protect Personal Information when disposing prescriptions
The label of a prescription bottle shows personal data, such as your name, your doctor’s name, the type of medication, the number of refills allowed and the date of the current refill. In the wrong hands, this data could be harmful to you or a drug abuser. Therefore it is always important for you to black out your personal data on the label with a permanent black marker before disposing of the product in any manner.
ACCIDIENTIAL MISUSE
If you accidentally repeat a dosage, take an expired medication or otherwise misuse your medication, call the Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222.
Needles/Sharps are NOT accepted:
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Needles, or sharps as they are also called, that are used in the home for self-injection (such as insulin shots) are currently permissible to discard with regular garbage using a rigid container (such as a milk jug, coffee container or laundry bottle) sealed with duct tape.
Residents may also use a bio-hazard container and pay for bio-hazard disposal service through several companies. Occasionally a doctor's office, hospital or other medical provider will offer disposal service to their clients.
Three communities include service to take sharps from residents for biohazard disposal: Joliet, Plainfield, Shorewood.
Call 800-449-7587 to verify eligibility for residential diabetic sharps collection.
A national sharp drop-off directory is being worked on:
Sharps generated by hospitals, medical offices, traveling nursing services, etc. are required to be disposed as bio-waste through a commercial bio-hazard disposal service.
Aurora Medical Park Pharmacy
403 W. Galena Blvd, Ste 210
Aurora, IL 60506 The Compounder Pharmacy
340 Marshall Avenue Suite 100
Aurora, IL 60506 Walgreens 06937
1221 N Lake St
Aurora, IL 60506 Presence Mercy Medical Center
1325 N Highland Ave
Aurora, Illinois 60506 | Beecher Beecher Police Department
724 Penfield Street
708-946-6388 Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm | Bolingbrook Meijer Pharmacy
225 N Weber Road Meijer Pharmacy
755 E Boughton Road Walgreens
101 Lily Cache Lane | Braidwood Braidwood Police Dept
141 W Main Street
815-858-2342 (call first) CVS
230 S Comet Drive |
Channahon Channahon Police Dept
24555 S Navajo Drive
815-941-3256 Hours: 24/7 inside entrance
| Crest Hill Crest Hill Police Dept
20690 City Center Boulevard
(near White Oak Library)
815-741-5111 Hours: 24/7 inside entrance | Elwood Elwood Police Dept
401 Mississippi Avenue
815-423-5411 Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm | Homer Glen Meijer Pharmacy
14169 S Bell Road |
Joliet Basinger's City Center
300 N Ottawa Street Bubblepack Pharmacy
2202 Essington Road, Suite 104 Basinger's Pharmacy
1106 Neal Ave, Suite A | Joliet CVS
809 Plainfield Road J.D. Brown Pharmacy
837 Plainfield Road (Rt 30) St. Joseph Medical Center
333 N Madison Street Walgreens
1801 Ingalls | Joliet Will County Sheriff
16911 W Laraway Road
815-727-8575
Hours: Drop-Box 24/7 Will County Coroner's Office
16857 W Laraway Road
| Lemont Lemont Police Dept
14600 127th Street
630-257-2229 x2478
Hours: Drop-Box 24/7 |
Lockport Lockport Police Dept
1212 Farrell Road
815-838-2132 Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm | Mokena Meijer Pharmacy
11305 Lincoln Highway Mokena Pharmacy
10937 Front Street, Unit C Walgreens
20002 Wolf Road | Mokena Mokena Police Dept
10907 Front Street
708-479-3912 Hours: Drop-Box 24/7 | Monee Monee Police Dept
5357 West Main Street
708-534-8541 Hours: Drop-Box 24/7 |
Naperville Walgreens
2719 Hassert Blvd Walgreens
3035 Bood Road
Walgreens
63 W 87th Streety
| New Lenox Walgreens
466 Nelson Road Walmart
501 E Lincoln Hwy | New Lenox New Lenox Police Dept
208 Veterans Parkway
815-462-6100 Hours: Drop-Box
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm
(excluding holidays) | Peotone Peotone Police Department
208 E. Main Street
708-258-3279 Hours: Drop-Box
Monday-Friday 9am-3pm
(excluding holidays) |
Plainfield Meijer Pharmacy
13521 S. Route 59
Plainfield Police Department
14300 Coil Plus Drive
815-436-6544
Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-3pm
| Romeoville Meijer Pharmacy
347 N Independence Blvd Romeoville Police Department
1050 W Romeo Road
815-886-7219 Hours: Drop-Box 24/7
(Seperate Collection container for Sharps) | Rockdale Rockdale Village Hall
79 Moen Avenue
Door 3 Rockdale Police Department
79 Moen Avenue
Door 1 | Shorewood Police Department 903 W. Jefferson Street
815-725-1460
Hours: Drop-Box 24/7 |
Wilmington CVS
1101 Water Street Wilmington Pharmacy
600 W Baltimore Street | Wilmington Wilmington Police Department
129 Robert P Weidling Drive
815-476-2813 Wilmington Residents Only
Hours: Drop-Box
Monday-Friday 9am-3pm
(excluding holidays) | | |
last updated: Last Updated 2025-06-09
Historical Information:
In 2007, in coorperation with the Illinois EPA, Will County began soliciting partnerships with pharmacies and police departments to collect medications. Below is a list of all partners that participated for some, if not all of the years for this program, which ended December 2023.
Will County partners for Pharmaceuticals:
- Bolingbrook Police Dept
- Braidwood Police Dept
- Crest Hill Police Dept
- Elwood Police Dept
- Will County Sheriff
- Lemont Police Dept
- Lockport Police Dept
- Manhattan Police Dept
- Mokena Police Dept
- Monee Police Dept
- New Lenox Police Dept
- Orland Park Police Dept
- Peotone Police Dept
- Plainfield Police Dept
- Romeoville Police Dept
- Shorewood Police Dept
- Wilmington Police Dept
Walgreens launched a take-all medication collection program in August 2016 at select locations
Click this link to a Map of these locations
Some Meijer and CVS locations also become drop-off sites before the state law was passed.
- Basinger's Pharmacy (multiple locations)
- Bolingbrook Pharmacy
- Doc's Drugs (multiple locations)
- Remco Medical (merged with J.D. Brown)