Medicines

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.

How can I get rid of them?

• Return to a pharmacy or chemist for safe disposal
• Do not flush medicines down the toilet

What about empty blister packs for tablets/pills?

These items are not recyclable. Please throw these in your rubbish bin. The cardboard box that houses the blister packs can be recycled with other cardboard items.

Inhalers - did you know?

Inhalers can be recycled at participating pharmacies. For more information or to find your nearest pharmacy or visit Complete the cycle.

• Approximately 73 million inhalers are used in the UK every year*
• Landfill disposal of inhalers is harmful to the environment both in material waste and in greenhouse gas emissions should the gas canisters become pierced or crushed and the propellant released
• If every inhaler-user in the UK returned all their inhalers for one year, this would save 512,330 tonnes of CO2eq - the same as a VW Golf car being driven around the world 88,606 times*

* GSK data on file. UK Inhaler recycling & environmental claims July 12