Sustainable Nantwich and Nantwich Bookshop have teamed up to help recycle piles of used pill packets.
Drug blister packs are made of a composite of plastic and aluminium foil which they say is very difficult to recycle.
The council cannot recycle them so the majority up going into an incinerator.
Now Sustainable Nantwich and the bookshop on High Street have partnered up to provide people with a drop off point for their empty medicine blister packs to ensure they are recycled.
Anyone is now able to take their blister packs to the shop during opening hours and Sustainable Nantwich will then pick them up and take them to Boots in Crewe, which has a recycling box for blister packs.
Boots have launched their blister pack recycling scheme but it is only at its bigger stores and Nantwich is not included.
Sustainable Nantwich coordinator and Plastic Free Nantwich lead Sam Pohlmann said blister packs are a real problem.
She added: “As the population grows and people get older we are using more and more medication.
“But that has a flip side as blister packs are difficult to recycle so they typically end up in general waste and are either incinerated or sent to landfill.
“Plastic is full of toxins and this fuels an environmental health crisis.
“So recycling is really important, and pharmaceutical companies should be taking responsibility for all this waste, and investing in sustainable materials and recycling schemes
“In the meantime the community is having to step in to take action.
“Thanks to the great community champions at Nantwich Bookshop and this positive initiative from Boots we can work together to plug the gaps until the industry steps up and takes measures to reduce the high volume of single use plastic waste they are creating.”
Nantwich Bookshop owner Denise Lawson said she was delighted to be able to work with Sustainable Nantwich yet again.
“We have collected blister packs in the past but haven’t had anywhere to take them since Superdrug stopped taking them.
“Now Boots have stepped up so working with Sustainable Nantwich we can help people do their bit.
“We are active supporters of Plastic Free Nantwich and work really hard to reduce our single use plastic consumption.
“Every business should do what they can to protect the environment for their customers and, more importantly, future generations.”
Recent Comments