I’ve been on the OmniPod for about 3-4 months now and am absolutely loving it. It’s the best for my diabetes management by far! However, when I first started on the Pod I heard about a recycling program for the Pods. The pods are easy to collect with no mess at all so I was looking forward to properly disposing of them. Sadly, I just found out OmniPod discontinued the recycling program due to low participation. Help! I want to recycle my pods. Any ideas, suggestions???
@DailyDiabetic hi Jill, pods have a very high waste stream compared to other pumps so I think it’s nice you want to reduce the total waste by recycling parts of the pump.
If your municipality accepts mixed recycling then one thing to do is tale the pods apart yourself, if you can do so safely.
The pomp has parts that have been in your body, and or exposed to genetically altered proteins and by definition those parts are medical waste. Medical waste by residential generators go in the garbage. The pod has a battery and that battery may contain mercury tin silver copper and a acidic electrolyte. The battery does not go in the garbage it should be collected and then brought to your municipal hazardous waste location.
The rest of the parts can go into mixed recycling.
Good luck!
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Hi Joe,
Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it! I have heard from a couple of people about the Pods being high waste, but are they really? I was on a tubed pump for nearly 15 years. In a tubed pump supplies come with a reservoir, a set, and tubing. Each are packaged individually in plastic. And the pump runs on a battery. The pump has components, like you mentioned, that have been exposed to genetically altered proteins. So how much more wasteful is the Pod?
The Pods have a set, a reservoir, and a battery. The set (the entire Pod), and the reservoir are all contained in one plastic package. Plus, there is no plastic tubing. All sets truly should be changed every three to four days for health reasons, skin irritation, etc. And if a Podder is able to, it’s been pretty easy to judge the best amount of insulin to put into the Pod for the full extent of it’s life so as to not waste any insulin 
Granted, the battery is contained in the Pod, I completely get that so that makes recycling harder.
I do like, and think I will try, to take the pods apart to remove the battery.
Anywho, just an idea I’ve been floating around because of the idea that Pods are more wasteful.
Again, I appreciate your feedback and I will update if I find any useful tricks for disposing properly!
@DailyDiabetic I only submit that both the pod and the other pumps have the same waste such as the infusion set and reservoir, but the pod have the battery (every pod Change) plus the pump motor and internal sensors which for conventional pumpers can reuse till the end of pump life usually 5 years. The battery in other pumps are either rechargeable or can easily be separated for hazard waste collection. That’s why pods are more wasteful, although only slightly more, it’s not like it’ll end the world or anything
Definitely valid points, and really great information we’ve provided for anyone doing research for pump systems. To each their own and what works best for them! Thanks for the feedback!