Dive summary:

• Waste officials have seen an alarming trend recently that is posing a huge health threat to workers, hypodermic needles being thrown into bottles, then into the recycling bin.
• William Harris, sanitary district director in Richmond, Va., said employees have documented seven instances of finding needles in the past two months opposed to only three in all of last year.
• Used needles have been found in water bottles, milk, orange juice and laundry detergent containers that have been carelessly tossed into the recycling bins.

From the article:

Richmond Sanitary District officials recently have seen an alarming trend that has posed a health threat to some of their workers.

Sanitary district director William Harris said employees have documented seven instances in the past two months of used hypodermic needles being found in trash and recycling. Earlier this year, an employee was pricked by a needle and was taken to Reid Hospital for treatment. ...