Stericycle is a compliance company that specializes in collecting and disposing regulated substances, such as medical waste and sharps, pharmaceuticals, hazardous waste, and providing services for recalled and expired goods. It also provides related education and training services, and patient communication services. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, with many more bases of operation around the world, including toxic waste incinerators in Utah and North Carolina.

Stericycle has been harshly criticized by residents living near their incinerators and environmentalists across the globe. Currently, Stericycle is being investigated by the state of Utah for burning hazardous, radioactive waste above legal levels at their North Salt Lake location. The investigations also are in response to Stericycle's falsification of records to hide the illegal quantity burning near Foxboro Elementary in North Salt Lake.

Stericycle, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers regulated waste management services, sharps disposal containers to reduce the risk of needlesticks, healthcare compliance services, pharmaceutical disposal, and regulated returns management services for expired or recalled products through incineration processes.

The company serves healthcare facilities such as hospitals, blood banks, pharmaceutical manufacturers,. Stericycle also serves myriad small businesses, which include outpatient clinics, medical and dental offices, abortion clinics, veterinary and animal hospitals, funeral homes, home healthcare agencies, body art studios, and long-term and sub-acute care facilities. Medical device manufacturers, consumer goods manufacturers, and retailers are also key customers.

Stericycle was founded in 1989 as a regulated medical waste company. It became a publicly traded company in 1996. In the late 80's Troy had a vision. He saw a need in the industry and jumped on it.

In 1999, Stericycle began offering safety and compliance training services with the launch of its Stericycle Steri-Safe OSHA Compliance program.

Stericycle's hospital offerings grew in 2003 when it acquired Bio Systems. Today, Stericycle Sharps Management Service with Bio Systems containers is the US leader in reusable sharps container management service.

The company’s pharmaceutical waste programs provide disposal of unused or expired wastes in hospitals, healthcare practices, and pharmacies.

To help hospitals manage their waste streams and drive recycling efforts, Stericycle began to offer Stericycle Integrated Waste Stream Solutions in 2009.

In 2010, Stericycle expanded its service offering again to include patient notification services with the acquisition of NotifyMD. Several other acquisitions followed, giving Stericycle a leadership position in telephone support services for physician offices. Serving customers across the United States, the NotifyMD team provides a breadth of services designed to improve office productivity and communication with patients.

In 2014, Stericycle acquired PSC Environmental Services LLC in a deal worth $275 million to form Stericycle Environmental Solutions. This acquisition further reinforced Stericycle's position in the waste management industry, with specific expansion in hazardous waste management.

In 2015, Stericycle acquired Shred-it International in a deal worth $2.3 billion.

The company’s international business began in 1997 with a joint venture in Mexico.

Since then, Stericycle has created services, tools and resources for healthcare professionals not only in the United States and Mexico, but also in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In the UK the subsidiary is called SRCL. In 2017 it started litigation against NHS England for £2.5 million for the non-payment of services for healthcare waste.

Beyond services related to healthcare wastes, in some markets the company has expanded its offerings to include management of certain hazardous wastes as well as patient transport and medical courier services.

Stericycle's medical waste incinerator located in North Salt Lake, Utah has been a topic of hot debate in the community. In September 2013, Erin Brockovich joined in with Utah residents in their call for Stericycle to discontinue their business in the area. Brockovich's visit was spurred by a violation notice from the Utah Division of Air Quality to Stericycle for excessive emissions above legal limits, and manipulating their reporting to show lower amounts of Mercury, Dioxins, and other potentially harmful chemicals emitted through burning medical waste.

The violations in 2013 were followed by criminal investigations at the order of Utah Governor Gary Herbert. Investigations by California's Soil Water Air Protection Enterprise, or SWAPE, in connection with Ms. Brockovich, discovered Dioxin in homes near the incinerator at levels 16x higher than what is considered "safe".

As of December 1, 2014, Stericycle and the Utah Division of Air Quality reached an agreement acknowledging no wrongdoing, though the settlement does require Stericycle to relocate approximately 40 miles to the west of the incinerator's current location in North Salt Lake. The settlement also calls for Stericycle to pay a $2.3 million fine, half of which is forgivable if the move happens within 3 years.