What is SIGRE

We are the non-profit organisation in charge of guaranteeing the correct environmental management of packaging and leftover medicines generated in households.

Launched in 2001, as a result of collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacies and pharmaceutical distribution companies, we work to be an effective and efficient model.

  • Farmaindustria
  • Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos
  • Fedifar
  • Aeseg
  • Anefp

Our work has a twofold objective:

  • Environmental: to prevent waste medicines and their packaging from being thrown in the rubbish bin or down the drain, with the consequent risk of contaminating our soil and water.
  • Socio-health: to encourage the non-accumulation of medicines in households and to raise awareness of the health risks arising from their inappropriate use.

Organisation

We have a multidisciplinary team that works every day to offer all citizens a convenient and safe system through which they can dispose expired or no longer needed medicines, guaranteeing their correct environmental treatment.

PRESIDENTE

Humberto Arnés Corellano
CEO of SIGRE

VICEPRESIDENTES

Jesús Aguilar Santamaría
President of CGCOF
Matilde Sánchez Reyes
President of FEDIFAR

CONSEJEROS

Javier Urzay Ramírez
Deputy General Manager for FARMAINDUSTRIA
Ana Bosch Jiménez
Legal Department Director of FARMAINDUSTRIA
Emili Esteve Sala
Technical Director of FARMAINDUSTRIA
Iciar Sanz de Madrid
International Department Director of FARMAINDUSTRIA
Ángel Luis Rodríguez de la Cuerda
General Manager of AESEG
Jaume Pey Sanahuja
General Manager of ANEFP
Raquel Martínez García
General Secretary of CGCOF
Rita de la Plaza Zubizarreta
Treasurer of CGCOF
Miguel Valdés Garaizabal
General Manager of FEDIFAR
Humberto Arnés - Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer
Humberto Arnés
Miguel Vega - Managing Director
Managing Director
Miguel Vega
Mª José Blázquez - Technical and Operations Director
Technical and Operations Director
Mª José Blázquez
Rafael García - Finance and HR Director
Finance and HR Director
Rafael García
Mario Zarzuela - Communication and Sustainability Director
Communication and Sustainability Director
Mario Zarzuela

Operation

We are responsible for managing an efficient system for the correct recycling of empty or leftover medicine packaging, in which all agents in the sector participate. Our activity is supervised and monitored by the environmental authorities through the Environment Departments of the different Autonomous Communities and Cities.

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All medicine packages marketed through pharmacies carry the SIGRE Symbol to indicate to the citizen that the product is affiliated to our system, and their leaflets include an environmental legend indicating where they should be deposited.

SIGRE's operation is based on a reverse logistics process, in which the delivery of new medicines to the pharmacy is used to collect the waste deposited at the Punto SIGRE. Through this model, CO2 emissions generated by the transport of waste are reduced and pharmaceutical control is guaranteed to prevent theft or illegal use.

Learn about some of our achievements

Savings have been made:

  • 212.000 trees
  • 429 M kWh
  • 400 M litres of water
  • 69 M litres of oil
  • 90.000 t of CO2

Transparency

At SIGRE we always act responsibly and transparently in our internal relations and with third parties, in strict compliance with the reporting obligations required by the regulations and with ethical behaviour based on integrity, objectivity and the correct use of information.

For this reason, we train our employees in the values that govern our code of conduct, and we communicate our actions clearly and truthfully. We also have internal operating rules that guarantee equal treatment for all agents in the sector who are members and their participation in the system's decision-making.

For further information, please contact us:

CODE OF CONDUCT

SIGRE in figures

Thanks to the involvement of all actors in the pharmaceutical sector, the correct separation of medicine waste has become a widespread environmental habit in Spanish households.

  • 326 Pharmaceutical companies
  • 22.122 Collaborating pharmacies
  • 145 Warehouses of the distribution partners
  • 102,48g of packaging and medicine waste collected per inhabitant per year
  • 69,23% Recycling rate of packaging materials deposited in the Punto SIGRE
  • 0,0064€ packaging of medicine for home use

Note: data as at 31 December 2023

Evolución de los residuos gestionados
2014-2022 (g/hab-año)

Pharmaceutical Packaging Prevention Business Plan 2021-2023

  • Eco-design measures
    applied
  • Compañías farmacéuticas
    que aplican medidas de ecodiseño
  • Packaging affected by eco-design measures
  • Overall reduction

Ecodesign

One of our main tasks is to promote the new circular economy model in the pharmaceutical sector.

For this reason, at SIGRE we promote the eco-design of medicine packaging so that it is increasingly lighter, less polluting and more easily recyclable.

To this end, we are responsible for drawing up the Prevention and Ecodesign Business Plan (PEPE, by its acronym in Spanish) for packaging in the pharmaceutical sector, which propose the objectives to be achieved and the measures that laboratories can apply to reduce their environmental impact.

The PEPE 2024-2028 is currently under development, the ninth plan undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry since 2000 to continue progressing in the application of the principles of the circular economy and to contribute to the objectives established in the current regulations.

PEPE 2024-2028

LIST OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES INCLUDED IN PEPE 2024-2028


In the following publications you can find more information on eco-design and the progress achieved by the pharmaceutical sector:

Eco-design Microsite Practical Guide V Catalogue

Awareness-raising

Everyone's cooperation is essential to properly close the life cycle of medicines and ensure that their waste does not harm our environment.

With a small gesture, each one of us makes it possible to set the entire recycling chain in motion.

That is why at SIGRE we work to promote the proper use of medicines, which necessarily includes the correct disposal of their waste.

Through our campaigns and awareness-raising programmes, we seek to get more and more people to join us.

  • Reciclar es el mejor tratamiento para el planeta

    Deposita los residuos de medicamentos y sus envases en el Punto SIGRE de la farmacia

    +
  • La medicina para el planeta es reciclar

    Recicla los medicamentos y sus envases

    +
  • Tú tienes la receta para cuidar el planeta

    SIGRE pone al ciudadano en el centro de su nueva campaña

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