Featuring the work of:
- HealthPlus Pharmacy staff
Read about their work:
At HealthPlus Pharmacy, we recognize the significant amount of waste created by the pharmacy industry. From prescription bottles and packaging materials to paper and chemical waste, much of this all often ends up in landfills. Motivated by our commitment to environmental sustainability, we have implemented practical solutions to minimize our carbon footprint while maintaining high-quality patient care.
To address this issue, we have:
- Trained our staff to be aware of their environmental impact.
- Created recycling stations throughout the pharmacy by creating separate bins for different recyclables.
- Recycled empty prescription bottles, glass powder bottles, paper, plastic packaging, and cardboard by collecting and dropping them off at our local recycling depot.
- Optimized prescription ordering by purchasing high-demand medications in larger bottles to reduce waste from single-dose units.
- Encouraged patients to return unused or expired medications to the pharmacy for proper disposal.
- Dispensed medications in original stock bottles rather than transferring them to our vials when the patient does not require child-resistant caps.
- Used smaller prescription label rolls (2.14″ x 2.25″) to print prescription information, as opposed to the larger 8″ x 10″ paper used by most systems, such as Kroll, which creates more waste.
Our strategies include:
- Team Engagement – Every staff member is responsible for implementing and maintaining our recycling efforts, with this extra step included in our staff training.
- Supply Chain Adjustments – We work with suppliers to reduce unnecessary plastic and paper packaging. For example, our wholesalers now use reusable totes to send orders instead of cardboard boxes. We are currently recommending this to our secondary supplier as well.
Moving forward, we plan to:
- Explore biodegradable or refillable blister packaging options. One option we’re considering is moving away from traditional blister packaging (card, paper, and plastic blister) to reusable tamper-proof packaging, which will not only be cost-effective in the long term but will also reduce significant amounts of paper and plastic waste.
- Advocate for industry-wide changes to reduce pharmacy-related plastic waste by communicating with our suppliers so that they may voice these concerns up the chain.
- Investigate sanitizing options for reusing prescription vials, so that patients can bring them back to the pharmacy for external sanitization and reuse.
Our initiative has already significantly reduced plastic and paper waste, but we are continuously looking for ways to improve and expand our sustainability efforts. We encourage all pharmacies to start by taking small but meaningful steps toward environmental responsibility. Together, we can make a difference!