Stericycle Partners with National Safety Council for Opioid Crisis Campaign

Stericycle Inc., a leading provider of essential and highly specialized compliance-based solutions, has joined the National Safety Council (NSC) as the exclusive medication disposal partner for its “Stop Everyday Killers” national education campaign to address the opioid epidemic, illustrate the faces behind the numbers, educate people on the scope of the problem and promote solutions to address the crisis.

As part of the campaign, NSC has unveiled Prescribed to Death: A Memorial to the Victims of the Opioid Crisis, an interactive art installation in Chicago that includes a wall made of medicine pills, each individually carved with images of the 22,000 people who died last year due to prescription opioid overdose. Additionally, a new pill bearing a human face will be 3D printed onsite and added to the wall every 24 minutes to represent the fact that someone dies every 24 minutes from an opioid overdose.

“Our nation is in the midst of the worst drug crisis in recorded history, but we know there are things we can do to save lives,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, in a statement. “The campaign honors those who have been lost to this epidemic while also offering hope and empowering visitors to take action. One of the simplest things they can do is clean out their medicine cabinets, and Stericycle is making that much easier. We are proud to collaborate with them on this important issue.”

To ease the process of returning unused pills and further bring awareness to this epidemic, Stericycle will provide complimentary Seal&Send medication disposal envelopes to everyone who visits the memorial in Chicago. As part of the industry’s most comprehensive pharmaceutical disposal program, Stericycle’s Seal&Send Envelopes are a safe, reliable and anonymous method to easily mail unused medicines for disposal.

“We are pleased to work with the National Safety Council on this incredible campaign and hope it will shine a light on our country’s opioid crisis as well as the options to help combat the problem,” said Charles A. Alutto, president and CEO of Stericycle, in a statement.