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.

As of 1 January 2025, we have extended our scope of action to commercial and industrial packaging of medicines, thus reinforcing the pharmaceutical sector's commitment to sustainability and the circular economy.

Our work has a twofold objective:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Taking into account that SIGRE is a non-profit organisation, all revenues generated will be used entirely for its social purpose. Therefore, the fees will be determined in such a way as to cover all the costs associated with its operation, to finance the management of the packaging waste generated and to enable its member companies to comply with the obligations established in the Packaging Regulation.

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:

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.