Pharmacies could collect used needles under council proposal

Anyone who needs a syringe or needle can get one at a CVS, a Walgreens, or other pharmacies in Boston. And under a City Council proposal, they would be able to get rid of them there, too.

It’s a strategy that aims to curb sharps disposal onto city streets and playgrounds, but the proposal is already meeting opposition from retail associations that represent pharmacies.

“Retail pharmacies are not waste disposal sites; they are not in the business of waste disposal,’’ Ryan C. Kearney, general counsel for the Retailers Association of Massachusetts,said during a City Council hearing on the proposal Wednesday.