Property owner Scott Lane has collected about 35 boxes, some containing needles and some empty, during the past few years over about 200 metres of his property.

“I can only speculate that people are throwing them in the stormwater in town,” he said.

“Some have burst open and there’s nothing in them, those needles are strewn everywhere.”

He said the cartridges, which are given to people by health authorities to store used needles for disposal, were getting caught in willow trees and weeds near the junction of the Blackmans Swamp and Summer Hill Creeks.

“The willows are catching the rubbish and [without them] it’s going to end up at Ophir where the kids go swimming.”

Mr Lane said he had contacted Orange City Council some time ago but the flow of rubbish was still continuing.

“I’ve had a milk crate full of them here for a couple of years.”

He said he wanted to see safer disposal methods for the needles and boxes.

“I’d like to see whoever’s responsible take responsibility,” he said.

Ian McLean, president of the Orange chapter of OzFish Unlimited , an environmental group pushing for cleaner waterways, said the loose needles were a danger to creek users.

“All the needles are somewhere in the creek,” he said.

“The little box is something you are given when you are on something [or for medical conditions].

“They are supposed to go back and put them in a sharps disposal box and get a new one.”

However, he said they were ending up in rural creeks.

“We picked up eight on [Mr Lane’s] property and then he showed us a whole bucket load.”

Council spokesman Nick Redmond said council had pollutant traps in place and staff regularly cleaned wetlands and public spaces but keeping the waterways clean was a whole-community responsibility.

“It is incredibly disappointing to see waste of any kind ending up in the water system out of sheer laziness from people who can’t be bothered to safely and responsibly dispose of their waste,” he said.

READ MORE: Camping put on public exhibition

“Anyone who finds discarded needles can call the sharps hotline on 1800 633 353, please do not attempt to pick it up yourself.”

He said sharps bins were at the Kite Street Community Health Centre building, Orange hospital, next to the toilets in the Woolworths car park, at the Council works depot, the Ophir Road Resource Recovery Centre while council, hotels and shopping centres had single disposal units in toilets.

READ MORE: Call to clean up waterway after rubbish found downstream of trap

A Western NSW Local Health District spokeswoman said the NSW Needle & Syringe Program provided sterile injecting equipment to help reduce the sharing of injecting equipment and prevent the transmission of blood-borne viruses.

It also provided outlets and information for safe disposal of the sharps.

“While all efforts are made to educate clients regarding appropriate disposal of sharps, we rely on each individual to do the right thing,” she said.