What do you do with your unused medicines?
A new agreement between the HSE and pharmacists means you will soon be able to bring your old pills and medicines to a community pharmacy where they will be disposed of responsibly.
What we do with these is important. Medication waste is a growing ecological, economic and public health challenge across Europe – that’s according to a conference on the matter held in University of Lodz last year as part of Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Homes in the EU are accumulating significant quantities of expired medications due to overprescribing, people not completing a course of medicine, a lack of public awareness, and inadequate disposal systems, according to experts and policy makers.
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Putting unused medicines in bins, toilets or down the sink is making the planet sick
Between 10 per cent and 45 per cent of household drug expenditures are ultimately wasted, the conference heard.
Improper disposal – often through household bins or flushing – leads to contamination of water and soil, contributing to environmental degradation and antimicrobial resistance. Despite this, systems for proper collection and disposal remain underdeveloped, and public awareness is limited, the conference heard.
Don’t throw your unused medicines into general waste, Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency warns.
Putting them in your household bins, in the toilet, or down the sink is making the planet sick. Even small amounts of medicines can affect freshwater ecosystems.
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Pharmaceuticals can be found in surface and groundwater across Europe, affecting crops and wildlife, says the European Commission. Failures in the production and disposal of pharmaceuticals are affecting the behaviour of fish and animals and their ability to reproduce, it says.
When we dispose of medicines inappropriately, micro-organisms such as bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics – and this has dire consequences for all of us.
Storing medicines in our homes long-term isn’t necessarily safe either. It can contribute to accidental poisonings, intentional overdose and inappropriate sharing of medicines
As part of an agreement last year between the HSE, Department of Health and Irish Pharmacy Union, the Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly (DUMP) campaign will mean the public will soon be able to bring unused or out-of-date medicines to community pharmacies where they can be disposed of properly.
There’s plenty of consumer demand for this – a HSE DUMP campaign run in Waterford in 2023, for example, saw 32,800 pills returned.
Government procurement for a new service to collect and dispose of unused medicines from community pharmacies is now under way and government website Mywaste.ie says the new service should be available to the public from April.
There will be a public-awareness campaign to advise people what medicines can be returned. Pharmacies will be required to use uniform signage to indicate that they provide the service.
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Apart from the environmental harm caused by medicines, storing them in our homes long-term isn’t necessarily safe either. It can contribute to accidental poisonings, intentional overdose and inappropriate sharing of medicines.
If your local community pharmacy isn’t accepting unused medications yet, you can dispose of them at your local civic amenity site if it accepts this type of waste. Check out Mywaste.ie or your council’s website for bring centres near you.
Empty glass medicine bottles can be placed in glass bottle banks. Plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and information leaflets can go in your household recycling bin. Empty plastic and foil blister packs and sachets should go in your general waste bin.
