We make no apology for repeating on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum, yet again, the news of community hazardous household waste collections schemes operating in the US. Although there are some restrictions, these collections generally identify one or more drop-off points in convenient locations where residents can rid themselves of unwanted hazardous household wastes.

This might include paints and oils, some garden and household chemicals, and needles (clinical waste collections from US domestic producers are not managed as we do here in the UK). A common theme, generally the most common and primary target for collection, is unwanted pharmaceutical waste including prescription wastes and OTC products that tend to accumulate in the bathroom cabinet.

Though some civic amenity sites will accept these wastes, pharma wastes are usually excluded and the inevitability is that these will find their way to the domestic waste stream or be flushed down the loo to contaminate wastewater. Neither is acceptable.

Just looking at today’s news items, three such collection days feature prominently:

• Residents handed over 166 pounds of unused and expired pharmaceuticals Oct. 29 through a free national take-back initiative hosted by the Oldham County Solid Waste Department, the Oldham County Police Department and the Oldham County Sheriff’s Office, Kentucky
• This week the Jackson County (Minnesota) Sheriff’s Office packed 102 pounds of prescription drugs into six shipping boxes as a result of the Take Back Day as well as several months worth of accumulated pills from the Jackson County Addiction Prevention Coalition’s Take It to the Box promotion, which started in February
• In Davis County, Utah, 814 pounds of unused prescription and over-the-counter medicines was collected as part of the national “clean out your medicine cabinet” fall campaign

It’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s effective, but shamefully it’s lacking in the UK!