In California, you can dispose of expired COVID tests in your regular household trash — with two caveats worth a minute of your time. First, check whether the FDA has extended your kit’s expiration date, because many tests that look expired still work. Second, if your kit contains a lancet for a finger prick, that lancet is legally a sharp and cannot go in the garbage.1California Department of Public Health. Frequently Asked Questions Around K-12 Testing Framework for 2022/23 School Year
First, Confirm the Test Is Really Expired
The FDA has extended the shelf life of many at-home COVID-19 tests beyond the date printed on the box. If the printed date has passed, that date may no longer be the accurate one.
Find the lot number on the outer box, near the printed expiration date. It will be a mix of letters and numbers. Look up your test’s brand on the FDA’s At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests page and search for your lot number.2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests If it appears with an extended date, the kit is still usable. If it doesn’t appear, the original date stands. You can also call the manufacturer with the lot and catalog numbers to confirm.3U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Expiration Dating Extension
Throwing Away a Standard Rapid Antigen Kit
For a typical over-the-counter rapid antigen test, every part can go in your regular trash: the nasal swab, the test card or strip, the small dropper vial, and the plastic packaging. The California Department of Public Health confirms that OTC at-home tests are safe for standard household disposal.1California Department of Public Health. Frequently Asked Questions Around K-12 Testing Framework for 2022/23 School Year
If the test was used by someone who was sick, or if you just want an extra layer of caution, put the used components inside a sealable plastic bag before dropping them in the trash. That protects sanitation workers from any biological residue.
The outer cardboard box and the paper instruction sheet can go in your curbside recycling bin. Nothing else from the kit should.
One safety note on the reagent vial: the liquid contains preservatives such as sodium azide, typically around 0.02%, along with surfactants that can irritate skin or eyes on contact.4U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fastep COVID-19 Antigen Home Test5PMC (PubMed Central). Human Toxicity From COVID-19 Rapid Home Test Kits If any spills on your hands or splashes near your face, flush with plenty of water. Keep kits away from children and pets.
If Your Kit Includes a Lancet
Some at-home COVID-19 antibody kits include a small lancet for a finger-prick blood sample. Lancets are sharps, and California law keeps home-generated sharps out of the regular trash entirely.6California Legislative Information. California Code Health and Safety Code 117690
Put the lancet in a puncture-resistant container with a screw-on cap. An empty laundry detergent bottle works. From there, you have two options:
- Drop the container at an approved sharps collection site.
- Order a free mail-back sharps package through California’s statewide take-back program.
To find a drop-off site or request a mail-back container, call (844) 482-5322. The rest of the kit — swab, test card, dropper, packaging — can still go in the regular trash following the bagging steps above.
When to Use a Household Hazardous Waste Facility
A standard rapid test does not need to go to a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) facility. But if you have professional-grade kits with larger reagent volumes, or a stockpile of expired kits you’d rather not put in the garbage, HHW facilities accept them at no charge.
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control oversees two kinds of sites: permanent HHW collection facilities on a regular schedule at a fixed location, and temporary one-day collection events hosted by local public agencies.7Department of Toxic Substances Control. Types of Collection Facilities Both are free for residents. Check your county’s waste management website or the CalRecycle site to find the closest option.
What Not to Do
Don’t flush any part of a test kit down the toilet. The plastic doesn’t break down, and the reagent chemicals shouldn’t enter the wastewater system.
Don’t pour the reagent liquid down a sink or storm drain. Even in small volumes, sodium azide is toxic to aquatic life.
Don’t put the plastic components in curbside recycling. The cassette, dropper vial, and swab are mixed-material items that recycling facilities can’t process, and they may carry biological residue. Only the cardboard box and paper instructions recycle. When in doubt, bag it and trash it.