Blister pack partnership reaches recycling milestone

Blooms The Chemist and Pharmacycle are celebrating the success of their partnership, with over three million medicinal blister packs diverted from landfill.

Since October 2022, over 4000 kg of medicine packaging have been recycled, following Blooms’ rollout of in-store blister pack collection boxes across its network of over 115 stores.

According to Blooms The Chemist’s Environmental Impact Committee Lead, Kimberley Baldassarre, many Australians are unaware that blister packs cannot be recycled in kerbside bins.

“With the rollout of convenient, in-store collection boxes, combined with encouragement and education from our passionate pharmacists, our customers have responded, and we have been overwhelmed by the uptake in recycling blister packs,” Baldassarre said.

Following the program’s success, Blooms The Chemist and Pharmacycle have announced they will continue the partnership.

Afonso Firmo, Pharacycle Director, said, “For blister packs to be recycled, they first need to be collected in sufficient volume to warrant the use of specialised recycling technology, and we have certainly managed to collect this volume with the help of Blooms The Chemist. We are delighted that our partnership will continue.”

“We are proud to lead the way in what can be achieved for important environmental issues in the pharmacy industry,” Baldassarre said. “Our partnership with Pharmacycle allows us to reduce our waste to landfill and help our local communities to do the same. We look forward to maintaining the momentum as we head into year two of this vital work.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Lyalya Go