The program was launched in the City of Boston in December 2020 with support from the Boston Public Health Commission and the RIZE Foundation. Their approach “was based on the idea that a small cash “buy back” incentive would encourage safe disposal of syringes, improve quality of life, reduce public safety concerns, and reduce service requests related to syringes.” Additionally, the program also “sought to create a low threshold income-earning opportunity, develop job readiness skills, expand access to life-saving overdose prevention resources, increase engagement, and create a new access point for services.”

The program “surpassed their initial goal of collecting 1,000 syringes per week, collecting …1,738,693 syringes to date, averaging 4,427 syringes collected per day (average of 22,135 syringes collected per week). Since the program’s onset, a total of 2,094 people have enrolled in the program, averaging 86 visits per day.”