Coinciding with the celebration of World Environment Day, SIGRE has made public that, in 2024, the recycling of medicines in Spain increased by 4.3% compared to 2023. This data is part of the annual activity report recently presented by SIGRE to the environmental authorities, which details the results achieved in the management of waste medicines and their packaging.

Specifically, this report states that, during the past year, an average of 105.6 grams of this waste was collected per inhabitant through the SIGRE Points that are available to citizens in more than 22,150 pharmacies across the country.

"World Environment Day is an opportunity to remember that every gesture counts. Depositing expired medicines, in poor condition or no longer needed, along with their packaging, at the SIGRE Point is a simple and effective way to take care of the planet and our own health," said Miguel Vega, general director of SIGRE.

A gesture that is already practiced in three out of four Spanish households and that has a positive impact: it eliminates the risk to health posed by the consumption of surplus or expired medicines and prevents contamination of our rivers and soils, as would happen if we threw them in the trash or down the drain, while allowing the recycling of the materials of the collected containers.

Public cooperation is essential to achieve high recycling rates for medicines, but it should not be forgotten that the best waste is the waste that is not produced. The efforts made by the pharmaceutical industry to minimise the environmental impact of medicine packaging, making it increasingly sustainable and recyclable, contribute to this task.

Since 2000, pharmaceutical companies have implemented more than 3,500 eco-design initiatives on their packaging. Thanks to this continuous effort, and despite the existing legal limitations, every year around 500 million drugs (one in three) are placed on the Spanish market with some environmental improvement in their packaging, which has reduced their average weight by more than 25% and has enabled 67.4% of the packaging materials collected (paper, cardboard, glass, plastics and metals) to be recycled to date.