The environmental and health risks of not recycling inhalers
It is estimated that 73 million inhalers are used in the UK every year. This number is only set to climb as the respiratory conditions increases. Once an inhaler has been used and there are no further doses inside, it should be recycled.
Unfortunately, many are unaware of the correct ways to discard of inhalers and subsequently, they are more likely to be disposed of in a local landfill to slowly degrade and cause environmental harm to the planet as residual gas from the canisters is slowly leaked, releasing harmful CO2 emissions that rival those of roughly 58,000 cars on the road (based on a yearly figure).
Our Inhaler Recycling policy and process:
When it comes to inhaler recycling – all used inhalers should be returned to a pharmacy to be disposed of safely.
Inhalers can be disposed of by the pharmacist along with other normal drugs waste. The plastic and aluminium parts of the inhaler can be used in other useful products, and any potentially dangerous greenhouse gasses can be collected to avoid releasing them into the atmosphere.
This environmentally safe disposal route is available at our pharmacy. If your inhaler is out of date or serving you no purpose, don’t let it be destined for the landfill. Take action and bring it in to be recycled at our pharmacy, we’ll be more than happy to have it recycled for you.