Thinking of trying to remove these before throwing into sharps bin, as they take up so much room, but I wouldn’t throw in garbage because there is a needle.
Has anyone done this?
I thought if it after travelling and having so much of my luggage room taken by Diabetes supplies. Also, seems like a lot could be recycled.
I always remove the needles from the Tandem inserters after use, and drop the needles into a sharps container. I use channel locks to grab the needle, and pull pretty hard to get the needle out of the plastic.
The Dexcom inserter is very tough. I had to destroy the shell and mash the interior pretty badly to get the needle out,-once. Once was enough for me. I throw the intact inserters in the trash now. Nobody will accidentally contact the needles.
Dave
I do what @D1958 does, using mini-channelocks to pull the needles out. Have also used a stout pair of needle-nosed pliers. My sharps container is a gallon Chlorox jug, and it takes a long time to fill it up. On trips I just bring the trash home.
The G6 inserter is. They improved that for the G7 inserter, which is straightforward to open.
I save the inserter, cap, and box until the sensor has run it’s full lifetime, in case the sensor fails and they want everything back. But when I’m ready to discard the sensor I take the inserter apart. With a medium flat-blade screwdriver I pry out the powerful little magnet. Next, in line with the insertion button, there is a white plastic latch in a square hole in the clear shell. Push that tab in with the screwdriver and pry the outer shell off. Nearby there is another narrow white latch in a long slot in the clear shell, pressing that (with the needle pointing down on a table) releases the spring-loaded inner bits: 2 coil springs, the white plastic part, and the innermost needle holder. The needle can be grabbed with narrow pliers, bent to the side that has a notch, and it pops right out. Sharps recycling, metal recycling, plastic to the landfill, and the magnet saved because it seems to useful to throw away. Actually, there ought to be a use for those springs …
Crystal on Diabetes Strong shows a video of a gizmo that just cuts off the needle!