Augusta city councilors are exploring a potential incentive program that would pay for used syringes when they are exchanged for new ones.
Councilor Kevin Judkins compares the model to Maine's bottle redemption law, which he said has successfully reduced litter.
"And I know that used needles in every nook and cranny of Augusta is a problem," he said. "So I started thinking, if it worked well for that, how could we maybe model it for this?"
Fellow councilor Courtney Gary-Allen said there's evidence that shows syringe exchange incentive programs are effective at reducing the numbers of improperly discarded syringes.
"One of the best probably known is in Boston where they have been doing this for a long time and have had very successful outcomes with getting syringes back into syringe exchanges," she said.
Boston ended its program in June after the city ran out of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Last month, Portland city councilors approved a year-long needle buyback pilot program.
