Police Department Medicine Collections
...a prescription for clean water and safe kids
- Help Protect Lake Michigan
- Prevent Childhood Poisonings
- Reduce Substance Abuse
IMPORTANT: Police department collections are ONLY open to residents within the participating community. You can find a list of participating cities and villages below.
There's an easy way to get rid of unused or expired medication all year long. The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is working with more than a dozen police departments in Milwaukee County to provide medicine collections all year long.
NEVER flush or pour unused meds down the drain. Water reclamation facilities are not designed to remove all of them and trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are showing up in rivers and lakes around the world.
Please keep medication in the original package or bottle. You CAN cross off your name and address, but DO NOT cover up or remove the name of the medicine.
You CAN Bring: Prescription and over-the-counter medications, ointments, sprays, inhalers, creams, vials and pet medications.
You CANNOT Bring: Illegal drugs, needles/sharps, biohazardous material (anything containing a bodily fluid or blood), personal care products (shampoo, soaps, lotions, sunscreens, etc.), household hazardous waste (paint, pesticides, oil, gas).
Why Should We Care?
Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove all medicines from wastewater. Drugs can end up going through the plants and directly to our rivers and lakes. Various levels of antibiotics, anti-depressants, veterinary drugs, birth control hormones and other drugs have been detected in waterways across the United States. Research suggests that hormones found in pharmaceuticals may cause abnormalities in the reproductive cycles of fish. Antibiotics in the environment may also contribute to the development of drug resistant germs.
Participating Police Departments: (You can only use the program if you're a resident of the community listed!!!)
BAYSIDE 9075 N. Regent Rd.
24 hours a day / 7 days a week
BROWN DEER 4800 W. Green Brook Dr.
24 hours a day / 7 days a week
CUDAHY 5050 S. Lake Dr.
Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
FOX POINT 7300 N. Santa Monica Blvd.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
FRANKLIN 9455 W. Loomis Rd.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
GREENDALE 5911 W. Grange Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
GREENFIELD 5300 W. Layton Ave.
24 hours a day / 7 days a week
OAK CREEK 301 W. Ryan Rd.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
RIVER HILLS 7650 N. Pheasant Ln.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
SHOREWOOD 3936 N. Murray Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
SOUTH MILWAUKEE 2424 15th Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
ST. FRANCIS 4235 S. Nicholson Ave.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
WAUWATOSA 1700 N. 116th St.
Tuesday through Friday, Noon to 5:30 p.m.
WEST ALLIS 11301 W. Lincoln Ave.
24 hours a day / 7 days a week
WEST MILWAUKEE 4755 W. Beloit Rd.
Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
WHITEFISH BAY 5300 N. Marlborough Dr.
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
What To Do If Your Community Does Not Offer Police Department Collections
MMSD conducts Medicine Collection Days for all Milwaukee County residents in the spring. If you can store old meds safely, keeping it out of the reach of kids and people who abuse drugs, save it until the next medicine collection.
If you need to get unused medications out of your home, the federal government recommends throwing them in the garbage. Grind up old meds and mix them with coffee grounds or something nasty that no one would want to eat. Or, dissolve pills in a jar or can with water and kitty litter. The garbage is NOT a perfect option. Most landfills collect liquid that seeps through the landfill and drain it to a sanitary sewer. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove all medicine from wastewater.