Recycling organisation TerraCycle has launched a new scheme to help prevent empty medicine blister packs, including veterinary products, from being incinerated or ending up in landfill.
Blister packs’ complex mix of materials makes them costly to recycle, and the recycled material is worth less than the cost of the process, which is why they aren’t picked up via council kerbside collections.
However, TerraCycle has developed a recycling solution that separates the plastic and aluminium component parts, which would otherwise be disposed of in general waste, into a recycled raw material which can then be used in the production of new products. While some retail-specific recycling programmes already exist, the organisation has now launched the BlisterBack scheme, which is intended to widen the scope of existing recycling initiatives to include hospitals, veterinary practices, GPs, pharmacies and other retailers.
Participating businesses can order a Zero Waste Box from TerraCycle and set it up in a visible spot at their location. This location can then be listed as a public drop-off point on the organisation;s website and interactive map to boost community participation and visibility.
Julien Tremblin, general manager, TerraCycle Europe, said: “TerraCycle has been recycling empty blister packs in the UK for years, launching our first solutions in 2018 and since then, we have collected and recycled more than 75 million blister packs at hundreds of locations around the UK.
“TerraCycle BlisterBack has a simple premise, in that we are encouraging multiple actors whether big chains or at a local level to come together to fund and offer access to the recycling of empty medicine blister packs for their stores, locations, local communities and customers or residents.
“We aim to develop a growing and robust nationwide network of drop-off points over the coming months and years so people across the UK have somewhere to take their empty medicine blister packs to be recycled.”
Adam Herriott, senior specialist at sustainability charity WRAP, added: “Blister packs are a difficult to recycle item and this is a positive step in tackling an ongoing problem. Having widespread collection points will help more people recycle and stop many blister packs from going to landfill.”
