Pharmacy Waste Management

The main waste stream that any pharmacy or chemist must manage is pharmaceutical waste. This can include expired and out-of-date medicine, damaged medicine, and any medicine that’s no longer required or usable. Completely and half-empty medicine containers are also a common kind of pharmaceutical waste.

Pharmacies have a duty of care to ensure all waste is stored, removed, and disposed of responsibly. That means segregating waste materials and storing them in individual bins, bags, and containers before collection and disposal. It reduces the risk of contamination and upholds your legal responsibilities while protecting human health and the environment.

Pharmacies and chemists can also produce various other waste types that must be separated, stored, and managed responsibly to reduce contamination risks and ensure appropriate disposal.

Regular and reliable waste collection from a pharmacy helps keep your site clean, clear, and hygienic. It prevents bins from overflowing and reduces health and safety risks, such as exposure to potentially harmful materials, by removing waste regularly. Arrange daily, weekly, or fortnightly pharmacy waste collection anywhere in the UK with Business Waste.

Licensed waste carriers remove all bins, bags, and containers from your pharmacy. This ensures safe and legal management of your waste, and you receive a free duty of care certificate that provides proof and peace of mind. You can organise pickups at a convenient time and on suitable days that slot into your schedule.

Combine appropriate numbers and sizes of bins, bags, or containers with a removal frequency that’s cost-effective and efficient. It’s possible to book daily collections of pharmaceutical waste, but only weekly removals of dry mixed recycling, for example, depending on the volumes you produce.

Various regulations and legislation cover the management and disposal of pharmacy waste. This includes guidance and requirements from NHS England, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and the Environment Agency. The main regulations to be aware of and what they cover in relation to pharmacy waste are:

• Environmental Protection Act 1990 – this applies a duty of care to every pharmacy or chemist to ensure waste management and disposal is conducted safely and with a minimal environmental impact. It covers safe storage, waste separation, and the requirement of a waste transfer note or duty of care certificate when handing waste from a pharmacy to a waste carrier.
• Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 – the disposal of any pharmaceutical and other potentially hazardous waste must abide by these regulations. They cover the importance of waste segregation and safe storage. If your pharmacy generates more than 500kg of hazardous waste annually, it must register with the Environment Agency.
• Controlled Waste Regulations 2012 – these regulations classify pharmacy waste as controlled waste, which means it’s subject to the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This places a duty of care on your chemist or pharmacy to manage its waste responsibly.

General guidance for pharmacy waste disposal includes to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and an apron when handling certain waste items. Segregating waste types, including hazardous and non-hazardous materials, is vital. As most pharmaceutical waste is incinerated, it’s important to separate waste carefully so that only pharmaceutical waste goes for incineration.

For medical waste, you must use the clinical waste bins with the correct colour of lid, which include:

• Blue – non-hazardous medicines and contaminated items like PPE and expired pharmaceuticals.
• Purple – cytotoxic and cytostatic waste, including medicinal vials, blister packs, and contaminated disposable garments.
• Yellow – sharps contaminated with medical waste like syringes and scalpels.

Reducing waste is important especially in pharmacies, as it’s estimated that the NHS sends £300 million worth of prescribed medicine to waste every year. This is due to damage, expired and unused medicines, and errors. It can have an environmental impact as well as the financial loss for pharmacies and chemists.

Businesses have a duty to follow the waste hierarchy under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011. This means taking steps to prevent, reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover waste in that order, where possible. It applies to pharmacies that can take various steps to try and reduce their waste production, such as:

• Regular stock checks and rotation – a big cause of waste in pharmacies is when any medicine goes out of date and expires. Regular stock checks of the dates and rotation following the first expired, first out (FEFO) principles should help minimise medicines expiring and becoming waste.
• Offer blister pack takebacks – blister packs are a big source of packaging waste for pharmacies and patients. They’re technically recyclable, but most household recycling collections don’t accept them as they need to go to waste management facilities with the machinery and technology to separate the plastic and foil materials. Provide a blister pack takeback scheme at your pharmacy to eliminate such waste.
• Efficient prescription practices – review patient medication to avoid duplicate or unnecessary prescriptions and over-ordering medicine that then goes to waste. For over-the-counter (OTC) medicine, regularly review sales to see the most and least commonly purchased items and adapt your buying strategy.
• Safe and appropriate storage – store all medicine in secure places to reduce the risk of damage and them becoming unusable. For example, keep any medicines in glass jars or containers lower down or in secure storage to minimise the chance of falls and the glass smashing. Ensure temperatures are appropriate to avoid spoilage too.
• Recycle packaging – use a range of paper, cardboard, and dry mixed recycling bins to recycle packaging from deliveries to your pharmacy. Separate it from general waste and adhere to the Simpler Recycling regulations to minimise waste and boost recycling efforts.
• Educate patients – inform patients of how to recycle and packaging (such as glass vials or blister packs) to minimise waste. You could put up signs in your pharmacy, send out emails, or provide leaflets where relevant.