AIR - Take Action for Inhaler Recycling
An estimated 73 million inhalers are prescribed in the UK each year, which accounts for around 3% of total NHS UK emissions.1
Inhalers that are disposed of through household waste end up in landfill and release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Materials from the devices such as plastics, can have a lasting impact on the environment if not properly recycled.2
Chiesi has developed inhaled medicines for people living with diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for over 30 years. We are passionate about sustainability, and are proud partners to the NHS.
We worked together with the NHS to trial an inhaler recycling scheme to test whether postal recycling would be feasible for the NHS to implement on a national scale.
Take AIR was a Chiesi created and funded partnership with University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Leicestershire and Rutland Local Pharmaceutical Committee as the first ever inhaler recycling scheme to allow people to recycle their empty, unwanted, or out-of-date inhalers through the post.
227 pharmacies across Leicestershire and Rutland were invited to participate in the scheme which took place between January 2021 and January 2023. Inhaler users in the area were asked to talk to their pharmacist about inhaler recycling and were provided with pre-addressed and pre-paid envelopes to post their used inhalers to a dedicated waste management company through Royal Mail’s local letter boxes. Any brand or type of inhaler could be posted through the scheme and standard, every day mail was used, to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved. Once the inhalers were received, a waste management company extracted the remaining gases from the inhalers and recycled for use in products such as air conditioning units and refrigerators. Other materials from the inhalers such as aluminium and plastic were also recycled and reused.
The 50,000 inhalers that were recycled resulted in 305.3 tonnes of CO2e saved.3
Before the scheme, data showed that only 22% of inhaler users were aware of how to recycle their their device. After hearing about the scheme, 80% were willing to participate.
DRIVING LASTING CHANGE
Our award-winning, pioneering, Take AIR scheme has now ended, but it was just the beginning for Chiesi. We have been spreading the word about how we can work together to implement strategies to reduce the environmental impact of medical waste.
Re-Hale (Inhaler Recycling)
We launched a collaborative working project with NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board to implement an inhaler recycling scheme using local drop off points; allowing people in the East Kent area to recycle their used or unwanted inhalers at a convenient location close to their home.
Find out more here: https://www.chiesi.uk.com/beta/re-hale
CiPPPA (Circularity in Primary Pharmaceutical Packaging Accelerator)
Following the learnings from Take AIR, we were one of the early founding members of the CIPPPA initiative to facilitate industry-wide collaboration in minimising medical waste.
Find out more here: https://cipppa.org/
References
UK-CHI-2401020 | December 2024
