Toolkit for Pharmaceutical Take-Back Programs Available

The Teleosis Institute sheds light on everything from budgets to bins.

A new toolkit offers guidance to pharmacists, doctors and municipal leaders interested in establishing take-back programs for household pharmaceutical waste. Written by the Teleosis Institute of Berkeley, CA, The Green Pharmacy Program Toolkit walks readers through the process of setting up a collection site, one-time event or mail-in system for unused consumer medications.

“Pharmaceutical prescribing and purchasing has been set up as a one way system, so people can get easy access to the drugs they need,” says Dr. Joel Kreisberg, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute. Kreisberg says the system needs to be adjusted so that leftover medicine can be safely collected. “It isn’t hard to do; there are just a lot of questions on the way.”



The toolkit includes insight gleaned from the Institute’s own pilot project, which began in June 2007 and involved more than a dozen medical waste recovery sites. Participants have already collected more than 5,000 pounds of pharmaceuticals. Kreisberg says he hopes the handbook will encourage others to take part. Ultimately, he wants to expand the project to 50 sites and collect 10,000 lbs of unused medicine.

“The ideal is that there would be no waste at all,” says Evin Guy, the Green Pharmacy Program Manager for the Institute. Until that goal is met, take-back programs can help reduce the impact of medicine on the environment.

With more than 50 pages of information, the handbook offers far more than an overview of the benefits of medical waste recovery. It directly addresses the needs of prospective organizers, by looking at every aspect of setting up a successful program. Highlights include:

• Information on organizations that accept donations of second-hand medications;
• Questions to ask prospective waste transporters;
• Details on how to submit data to the National Unused Medicine Registry;
• Suggestions on how to promote a collection program;
• Tips on funding.

The handbook also covers the sticky issues involved with controlled substances and what collectors should do with unacceptable items, such as vaccines and chemotherapy drugs. Inhalers and syringes also require careful consideration. The handbook outlines best practices for dealing with both kinds of devices.

In addition to the handbook, the toolkit includes a PowerPoint presentation for training staff, a budget planning worksheet, the Green Pharmacy Program’s preliminary report, and a copy of Symbiosis Journal: Pharmaceutical Pollution Prevention.

The toolkit CD is available via the Teleosis Website (http://www.teleosis.org) for $95. The Institute also offers a Green Pharmacy package with additional benefits, including online training, conference calls with Teleosis staff, and a listing on the Website for the National Directory of Green Pharmacy Locations, for $250.

Orders can also be placed by calling the Institute at 510-558-7285 ext. 104, or by sending an email to evin@teleosis.org.