Workforce development program aims to help clean up littered needles in Boston

An expansion of a workforce development program is aiming to help address the issue of littered needles in several Boston neighborhoods.

The City of Boston reached an agreement with the Newmarket Business Improvement District after Boston’s Community Syringe Redemption Program was eliminated.

That program was halted at the end of June due to funding, and the Boston Public Health Commission said it was meant to be temporary.

It collected millions of needles since being launched in December 2020 by offering 20 cents for every syringe dropped off.

“It’s hard to compare apples to apples,” said Sue Sullivan, Executive Director of the Newmarket Business Improvement District. “We’re picking up every single needle we see out there.”

Sullivan told Boston 25 News that 12 new people signed on to the workforce development program to help clean up needles in an expanded radius.

Those who join the program are either in recovery or working toward that goal.

“It’s hard to see how it might be able to collect the same number of syringes,” said Allie Hunter, co-founder of Addiction Response Services. “I would propose that it could be in addition to the syringe redemption program rather than instead of.”

Hunter, who helped launched the syringe redemption program three and a half years ago, is still hopeful that it will be brought back in some capacity.

The program collected an average of 28,000 syringes per week and took in almost 1.8 million syringes last year alone.

It accounted for more than half of the city’s total collection volume.

“Our program created a unique model by offering an incentive for people to turn in their syringes,” explained Hunter.

There have been an average of 42 calls to 311 related to syringe pick-up per day since July 1st.

Hunter points out that’s double the number of when the syringe redemption program was in operation.

City Councilor Ed Flynn filed a resolution last week calling for the reinstatement of Boston’s Community Syringe Redemption Program.

“None of it has made a dent around here,” said South End neighbor Brian McCarter. “I can put in about 100 in a day just walking around here.”

McCarter said a crowd of 40 to 100 people congregate near his home on Harrison near Mass Avenue since last year’s encampment crackdown.

He told Boston 25 News that people using drugs leave a constant trail of needles that are tough to keep up with.

“I won’t wear flip-flops around here. It’s too risky that you’ll step on something,” he said. “It can’t get any worse here.”

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