The vast majority of Spaniards consider it harmful to the environment to throw medicines in the bin or down the drain. This is reflected in a recent survey conducted by Origen WW for SIGRE, the non-profit organisation in charge of ensuring the correct environmental management of expired or unused medicines and their packaging generated in the home. Specifically, 90% of those surveyed consider this bad practice to be a pollutant.

Thanks to this high level of public awareness, the habit of recycling waste medicines and their packaging through the SIGRE Point in pharmacies has been fully implemented in three out of four Spanish households.

Achieving this national awareness of medicine recycling is no easy task and we should be proud of it. Precisely, another of the striking data revealed by this survey is that 80% of the population expresses pride in the high percentage of households in Spain that recycle medicines.

The research specifies that this perception is most shared among the 55-65 age group (84%), followed by the over 66s (83%). It also highlights how 79% of 18-24 year olds are very satisfied with this level of environmental awareness.

"The proper use of medicines is key to both our health and the environment, and ends when their waste is deposited at the SIGRE Point," says Miguel Vega, director general of SIGRE. According to Vega, "the correct disposal of medicines at the SIGRE Point not only eliminates the health risks posed by expired or leftover medicines, but also contributes to preventing the contamination of ecosystems. It also allows for the recycling of the packaging materials collected".