Over 908 pounds of prescription medication collected from Mower County was burned in a privately owned incinerator on Wednesday in Mankato, according to Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi. The medication was collected over the course of 11 months.

Amazi said over three tons of prescription medication from Mower County alone has been destroyed since the county began offering people the chance to dispose of old, unused medication at the Mower County Law Enforcement Center in 2008.

“When we first began the program, it was to get prescription drugs out of the medicine cabinets and keep them out of the hands of kids, teens and adults,” Amazi said. “It also keeps it out of the environment; people aren’t flushing it down the toilet or throwing it out and having it gather in landfills.”

Amazi said the incinerator used for the disposal process allows for the destruction of up to 1,000 pounds at a time. The company that owns the incinerator does not charge, considering it an act of public outreach.

With the current success of the program, Amazi said the county has no intention of stopping.

“I think it was a good use of my closet space,” she said with a laugh.