Poole-based waste and recycling charity Win on Waste has today launched a pilot project aimed at responsibly recycling the plastic/foil packaging commonly found in medicines. Thanks to funding from the DPD Eco Fund, this waste will now be accepted at most Win on Waste sessions, starting with Hamworthy Library on Saturday 4th September.
Medicines blister packaging is commonly made of a mix of materials, which is hard to separate and recycle meaning the majority of this waste either finds its way to landfill, or is incorrectly included with kerbside recycling. This pilot project will send this waste to recycling specialist ReWorked where it will be separated, shredded and turned into plastic board which can then be made into products such as benches, picnic tables or garden planters.
Stacey Woods, Business Manager for Win on Waste said ‘There are a huge number of medicines blister packets used every day – with conservative estimates suggesting that 70 paracetamol tablets are sold per person, per year in the UK, that’s nearly 1.5 million items of plastic heading to landfill in the BCP area for that single drug alone.’
She continued, ‘Our aim is to use this pilot programme to assess the level of demand for responsible disposal of this waste, and use a combination of fundraising and sponsorship to ensure that it is able to continue in the long term.’
Medicines blister packaging is currently collected nationally by Superdrug and Terracycle, but there is very little coverage in the Poole area. Win on Waste aims to close this gap at their monthly waste collection sessions, which are listed on their website.
Win on Waste is a Poole-based waste and recycling charity which has been helping local people take control of their household waste since 2014. Collected items, including crisp packets, Pringles tubes and plastic milk bottle tops are directed out of landfill and the recycling system and towards charitable organisations. 13 good causes benefit from collection sessions on a monthly basis, including charities researching childhood brain tumours and breast cancer, International aid charities and Win on Waste themselves.
To find out more about Win on Waste, and to pledge towards the continuation of this project, use the panel below:
Are you still collecting medicine blister packs and if so, which sessions are doing this?
I’m afraid we are no longer accepting medicines blister pack – this pilot programme was incredibly successful – so much so that we were overwhelmed with packs which was unsustainable for a charity of our size, hence suspension of the collection.