How to Safely Dispose of Medicines?
It is very important to dispose of unwanted medications safely to prevent other people or animals from accidentally taking them. Randomly thrown drugs can harm people and the environment. There are some guidelines from the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change within the scope of the Zero Waste Project on how to properly dispose of medicines, including pills, syringes and inhalers.
The best way to dispose of most medications is to take them to an official drug take-back facility. Pharmaceutical waste should be collected in collection equipment marked “Waste Pharmaceutical”. It should be taken or ensured that it is taken to 1st class waste collection centers established by municipalities. It is necessary to ensure that waste drugs are disposed of in a controlled manner and their reintroduction to the market is prevented.
Why is proper disposal important?
Some medications can be very dangerous, even fatal, for people who do not need to take them. Children and pets in particular may be at risk of contact with improperly stored or discarded medications. A person should throw away any medication after its expiration date. It is also important to discard these medications:
-Unwanted
-Unused
-Damaged or dirty in any way
-Unidentified
It is very important to throw away unwanted or expired medications immediately. This can help prevent people from accidentally taking or abusing potentially dangerous medications. It’s also worth bearing in mind that medications improperly disposed of in the trash can put people and animals outside the home at risk.
Needles
Proper disposal of needles or syringes can prevent cuts from occurring to others.
-Put the used ones into a hard container that fits and close the lid.
-Keep the container out of reach of children and animals.
-Do not overfill the container.
-When the container you put the sharpened items into is three-quarters full, it is ready to be emptied.
You can leave these containers at collection points such as hospitals and contracted pharmacies, or contact waste collection points and deliver them. You can check with municipal waste collection services or healthcare facilities to find out what services are available.
Within the scope of the Zero Waste Project, many municipalities have started to collect waste medicines in a controlled manner to prevent waste medicines from being thrown into the trash or poured into sinks. It is now known by most people that unconsciously throwing away waste medicines and pouring them into sinks directly affects the environment and human health. Medicines spilled into toilets can also harm the city sewage system and therefore the soil, groundwater and sea through treatment plants. Therefore, collecting and disposing of it correctly is a process that everyone must take responsibility for.
Children and pets may be particularly at risk from consuming these medications. If taken accidentally, these medications can be dangerous and even fatal. The best way to dispose of medication is to take it to a registered collection point.
