This week's contributor is Toni Riley, Community Pharmacist and Project Manager of National Return of Unwanted Medicines - unwanted medicines once returned to a community pharmacy are placed into a RUM bin, in a secure area of the pharmacy that's always supervised by the pharmacist. When the RUM bin is full, the tamper-proof lid is firmly attached and the bin will make its way to an EPA accredited facility where everything is destroyed using high temperature incineration.
The contents of all RUM bins are not examined -- in fact, the sealed bin is incinerated with the tamper-proof seal still intact.
The RUM bin is processed at temperatures of up to 1,200C, ensuring complete combustion and destruction of all the unwanted medicines. This high temperature incineration does not produce methane gas (a contributor to greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming) as all hydrocarbons are converted to heat energy, carbon dioxide and water. There is virtually only a tiny pile of "sand" remaining at the end of the incineration process.
This process ensures that all unwanted medicines are securely disposed of in the most environmentally sustainable manner.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 17 Jul 17
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