What to do with
Medicines
Unopened, unused and out-of-date medicines should be returned to pharmacies for disposal.
Inhalers should not be put in the waste bin as they contain gases which are harmful to the environment. Instead they can be recycled at any pharmacy.
How to dispose of unwanted medicines
- Return them to a pharmacy or chemist for safe disposal.
- Do not flush medicines down the toilet.
- The cardboard box that houses the blister packs can be recycled, as can any paper inserts.
- Visit our What To Do With Inhalers page to find out how to recycle inhalers.
- Medicine blister packs can be recycled at pharmacies participating in the TerraCycle Medicine Packet Recycling Programme.
Wasted or unused medicine is a serious and growing problem within the NHS that you can help tackle. It is estimated that as much as £300million is wasted every year on unused or partially used medication which cannot be recycled or re-used. A campaign called Only Order What You Need, working with the NHS, asks people to think carefully before ordering repeat prescriptons.
Only order what you need
Find out what you can recycle at home