Public urged to return used inhalers to pharmacies to tackle global warming

A campaign has been launched following a Swansea Bay University Health Board pilot project in the Upper Valleys Local Cluster Collaborative (LCC) which saw 1,249 inhalers returned during a trial at the Vale of Neath Pharmacy over the course of a year

The success of the pilot, the first of its kind in Wales, has resulted in the LCC’s eight pharmacies now recycling the inhalers that are returned to them.

All elements of the inhaler are recycled for plastic and metal while remaining gases, which contribute to global warming, are compressed and reused.

Now unwanted inhalers can be returned to any of Swansea Bay’s 93 community pharmacies.

Sam Page, Swansea Bay’s Head of Primary Care, said: “This month, all community pharmacies will do an initial count of the number of inhalers returned to them.

“Pharmacists will then be talking to patients who come into the pharmacy for an inhaler prescription to explain the environmental impact and the importance of returning them.

“It doesn’t matter whether they are empty or still have some dosage in them – community pharmacists will be encouraging people to bring them back in.

 “We hope to see an increase throughout May and June in the number of inhalers that are brought back so they can be disposed of safely.”

Thousands of seemingly empty plastic inhalers are sent with household waste to landfill or put in plastic recycling containers each year.

While it is thought they are empty, they still have residual gases in them which are harmful to the environment.

Initially the inhalers will be incinerated to prevent greenhouse gases leaking into the atmosphere.

But it’s hoped that if enough are returned over the two-month period, all community pharmacies can begin to recycle them in the future – as they do in the Upper Valleys LCC.

Niki Watts, the LCC’s lead pharmacist, said: “If inhalers are not disposed of appropriately, it can be harmful to the environment.

“The NHS strives to be carbon neutral and this would help us towards that goal.

“We have been doing this in the Upper Valleys LCC for the last 12 months and it has been very successful.

“We are seeing more and more patients returning their inhalers to our pharmacies.”

Members of the public can visit any community pharmacy throughout Swansea Bay to hand in their inhalers over the counter.

Staff will also be explaining the benefits of returning inhalers to patients who use them.

When a patient hands over a prescription for an inhaler, staff will place a sticker on their prescription packet.

The sticker will then make staff aware that the patient uses an inhaler and will therefore prompt them to have a discussion about the benefits and importance of returning it.

This isn’t the only way staff are highlighting the impact that inhalers have on the environment.

Two members of Swansea Bay’s pharmacy team recently created a project which showed the extent that swapping metered dose inhalers (MDIs) for dry powder inhalers (DPIs), where appropriate, would be good for patients and the planet.

As well as the environmental benefits, which would cut the health board’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 552 round-the-world car trips, the switch will also help patients better manage their conditions.

Pharmacist-led clinics were set up to help improve asthma care, disease control and educate patients on inhaler technique as well as the impact that inhalers have on the environment.

Educating patients on the benefits this switch would have on their health and the environment resulted in a 79 per cent reduction in carbon emissions over the 10-week duration of the project.

Sam added: “The health board is committed to the decarbonisation agenda within the NHS.

“The inhaler returns project provides an opportunity to move onto the next phase which would see all pharmacies recycling inhalers.

“We are hopeful that patients will engage with this project which will hopefully result in more pharmacies being able to recycle used inhalers.”

(Lead image: Swansea Bay NHS)