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best way of disposing of expired medicines without causing pollution

best way of disposing of expired medicines without causing pollution The best method for getting rid of expired medications without producing pollution will be covered on this page. To prevent contaminating and harming the environment, the processes for disposing of outdated medications and drugs must be followed.

What is a Pharmaceutical Waste?

The expired drugs or unused medicine is called pharmaceutical waste.

• Expired, unused, unusable, spilt and contaminated pharmaceutical products, medicines, cytotoxic preparations, vaccines, sera that are no longer required and need to be disposed of appropriately.
• Items used in the pharmacy for the handling/manipulation of pharmaceuticals e.g. bottles, boxes, ampoules, vials with residue, gloves, masks, connecting tubing.

How to dispose of expired medicines without causing pollution in South Africa

One best way of disposing of expired medicines without causing pollution is to follow and adhere to regulation 27 of the General Regulations to the Medicines and Related Substances Act (Act 101 of 1965) as amended.

All quantities destroyed must be recorded in the relevant record or register on the date of destruction and signed by the person responsible for the destruction, indicating the reference to the destruction certificate or case number as the case may be.

1. Highly engineered sanitary landfill – Properly constructed and operated landfill sites offer a relatively safe disposal route for municipal solid wastes, including waste pharmaceuticals.
2. Encapsulation – Encapsulation involves immobilizing the pharmaceuticals in a solid block within a plastic or steel drum.
3. Inertization is a variant of encapsulation and involves removing the packaging materials, paper, cardboard and plastic, from the pharmaceuticals.
4. Sewer – Some liquid pharmaceuticals, e.g. syrups and intravenous (IV) fluids, can be diluted with water and flushed into the sewers in small quantities over a period of time without serious public health or environmental affect.
5. High temparature burning – Pharmaceuticals should not be destroyed by burning at low temperature in open containers, as toxic pollutants may be released into the air.

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