The City of Knoxville and other sponsors are hosting an Unwanted Medicines Collection event on Saturday, November 15, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Kmart parking lot at 7428 Kingston Pike.

The location is next door to West Town Mall.

The event offers residents an opportunity to turn in unwanted and/or outdated and expired prescription medicines and over the counter medications for proper disposal.

Residents will be able to drive up and drop off the unwanted medications without leaving their cars. It is also a no questions asked event.

The goal of the collection is to prevent these pharmaceutical and over the counter products from getting into the water supply - or into the hands of children - and to make sure they are disposed of in a safe, environmentally-friendly manner.

The event is being sponsored by the City of Knoxville's Police Department and the Public Service Division's Office of Solid Waste; Kmart; the Knox County Health Department; Knox County Solid Waste Office; University of Tennessee Academy of Student Pharmacists and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

Members of all those organizations will be on hand to help collect the unwanted medicines during the November 15 event.

After that date old or unused prescriptions and over the counter drugs may also be brought to the Knoxville Police Department's Safety Building, located at 800 Howard Baker Jr. Avenue, for disposal. The KPD will maintain a secure collection container there on a permanent basis.

This event is part of a nationwide effort to reduce the amount of drugs that are entering water systems from either being flushed or poured down drains.

For more information about this medication collection and safe drug disposal event, contact either John Homa, the city's Solid Waste Public Manager, at 215-2872 or Officer Craig McNew with the KPD at 215-7031.