The RAPID drugs disposal bins dotted around Belfast have helped dispose of close to 100,000 drugs in the city per year.
The figures come from the Belfast Drug and Alcohol Coordination Team (BDACT) and show a sharp rise in the second year of the pandemic in the number of drugs disposed of.
The number jumped from 72,700 in 2020 to 92,989 last year, with 31,859 drugs disposed of up until May of this year.
Read more: West Belfast drugs bin scheme leads to 5,000 tablets recovered
BDACT uses a multi-agency approach, involving the PSNI, the Public Health Agency, charity Extern and others to work together to try and tackle drug and alcohol misuse.
Diane McMullin is a Community Support Worker for the Connection service for Belfast, which deals with the RAPID bins.
She says their success has been remarkable since being introduced in 2010, with 14 bins located across Belfast currently.
"Some are a lot more successful than others, some maybe don't have the footfall of others," she said.
"Those that we have in retail units are consistently bringing in large volumes of drugs, so we're concentrating on those kinds of locations."
Shopping centres and large shops have proved to be popular areas for those wanting to safely dispose of drugs, with bins at the Kennedy Centre and Tesco stores in the city too.
The majority of those disposed tend to be prescription medicines, from headache tablets right through to pregabalin, tramadol, and diazepam.
Each drug is individually itemised so that a tally can be kept on how many have been handed in.
"We have those that are pain relief, you have your anxiety and depressant drugs as well as your gastro drugs as well," Diane said.
"The PSNI hold the keys for the bins, there's no community organisation where these bins are located that have access to those keys.
"We'll go out with officers and empty those bins, collate everything and then safely dispose of them whether it's via a pharmacist or through the PSNI incinerator with the illicit drugs."
The illegal drugs that are found in the bins are all suspected items as field and lab testing has been done away with generally, meaning all suspected illicit items are disposed of.
"We've had cannabis, ecstasy, LSD, cocaine and we'll sometimes get the utensils that come with drugs, like grinders or pipes," Diane added.
She also added that the bins are very secure and that they have never had any instances of people trying to steal from the bins.
"They're solid metal, secured bins and they're bolted to the ground," she said.
"There's a drop lever, so there's a wee compartment, you drop everything in and once you close it, it drops down into the main body of the bin.
"We've never had staff targeted or threatened, it's a community safety thing, it's for people to dispose of their drugs when they're out and about."
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