Pharmaceutical distribution companies play an essential role in the SIGRE system by providing the technical and human resources necessary for the collection, transport and custody of empty or leftover medicine containers that citizens have deposited at the Punto SIGRE of the pharmacy.

Through this reverse logistics system, the same distributors in charge of taking the new medicines to pharmacies are responsible for collecting the waste, taking advantage of the same journey.

Thus, the removal of the bags from the Punto SIGRE is the responsibility of the pharmaceutical distribution. The pharmacist requests their withdrawal to the delivery person of his usual distributor, who will be responsible for replacing a new bag.

Thanks to this innovative system, pharmaceutical control and traceability of this waste is guaranteed, also saving the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, one of the main gases causing climate change and the greenhouse effect.

Pharmaceutical distribution and SIGRE work together to optimise and improve their processes. In this way, the quality and efficiency of the service provided to pharmacies is continuously improved.

Following this premise of continuous improvement, SIGRE has recently implemented a methodology to improve the geographical allocation of the bags collected in the Puntos SIGRE of pharmacies following a colour code assigned to each province. This system increases the accuracy of the information that SIGRE must provide annually to the different environmental authorities. To this end, the pharmaceutical distributors supply the SIGRE bags to the pharmacies with the colour of the SIGRE logo that corresponds to them according to the province where they are located.

In addition, after finishing the different distribution routes and collecting the bags with the waste deposited by citizens at the SIGRE Points, they are responsible for depositing them in the respective watertight containers located in the SIGRE storage area of their facilities. When storing them, the colour and province are taken into account, and they are duly identified and differentiated.

This SIGRE waste storage area is located in a place that is easy and safe to access both for the distributors who deposit the bags and for the authorised waste transporter who collects the sealed containers.

Likewise, every year a representative percentage of distribution warehouses are audited by SIGRE to verify compliance with the requirements established for the collection, storage and transport of waste and thus improve the quality of the service.

In the course of these audits, compliance with the applicable legal aspects, service requirements and the environmental and safety Technical Instructions that SIGRE requires of the wholesale companies that participate in the logistics process is checked.

At the same time as making the collection of medicine waste possible, pharmaceutical distributors play a key role in SIGRE's communication and awareness-raising campaigns, as they are responsible for distributing information materials to pharmacies aimed at citizens and pharmacies themselves.

In addition, distribution companies disseminate through their own communication channels the environmental and health benefits obtained through the recycling of unused or expired medicines and their packaging, thus contributing to creating a more circular and sustainable society.