Just about everyone takes medication, even if it’s only the occasional paracetamol. As you push the pill out of the blister packaging, have you ever thought about the waste of the packaging, or wondered what you can do with them?
You’re not alone. Blister packs top the list of things that Australians wish they could recycle. Blister packs are made of different materials, mostly plastic and aluminium, which are not easily separated, so cannot be recycled in your home yellow recycling bin.
Enter Pharmacycle. Since July 2022 they have recycled about 30 million blister packs, and now have over 400 collection points. 100 % of the blister pack material is recycled – the plastic component is made into products like plastic decking and fencing, which is weather-resistant and hard wearing. The aluminium is melted down and cast into small pucks, which are used as a de-oxidant in steel making. About 10 % of the aluminium combines with oxygen and is tipped off as slag, but even this is used in the manufacture of cement, and other processes – nothing is wasted.
The process to separate the plastic from the aluminium involves some manual removal of any medications and other packaging, and then shredding, grinding, and separation processes.
Pharmacycle supplies cardboard collection containers to pharmacies. It’s not a free service, but the pharmacies have the satisfaction of keeping old blister packs out of landfill, where they would take up to 500 years to break down. Blooms has signed up for collections nationwide and are currently the only chemists in Bathurst offering the service, and Busby medical practice also does. Some other chains and some individual chemists and most hospitals are on board, and the number is growing all the time.
Some pharmaceutical companies do support Pharmacycle, but the government doesn’t. Maybe they should, or legislate that pharmaceutical companies must plan for their waste to be recycled. A fraction of a cent per package would make the process more sustainable.
The government does offer a “Recycle Used Medicines” (RUM) program which most pharmacies and hospitals also use. They accept any medical waste including blister packs and other packaging, but everything is incinerated at 1200 degrees. Fine for medicines, but other waste produces pollution and CO2 emissions. So Pharmacycle makes RUM more efficient and cleaner.
So try and recycle your blister packs, and encourage your chemist to do so responsibly.
David Ashton is a member of Bathurst Community Climate Action Network.
