Inhalers alone account for 4% of all NHS CO
Most of these are currently thrown away and a small number are returned to pharmacies to be disposed of.
To help cut down the amount of waste from inhalers, the Pharmacy Department at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has launched a new inhaler recycling scheme for metered-dose inhalers (MDIs).
Dedicated recycling bins for expired or unwanted MDIs have been set up in the following locations:
- Acute Assessment Unit (AAU)
- Ward 26
- Ward 17
- Pharmacy Department
Staff, patients and visitors can now deposit MDIs into the nearest bin without any disassembly.
Once these bins are full, the inhalers are sent to a regional collection centre which ensures they are safely and responsibly recycled.
Annie Macaulay, Senior Pharmacy Technician at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and lead on this scheme said:
“The Pharmacy Department is really proud to be launching this initiative.
“We hope that, by working together to reduce our waste, we can help minimise the Trust’s environmental impact and ensure inhalers are disposed of safely.
“We believe that this scheme can make a real difference – one inhaler at a time.”
