It’s hard to imagine how many blister packs one person will use during their lifetime. Millions of people all over the world, including in Australia and New Zealand, throw out countless blister packs each week – whether it’s over-the-counter, prescription or even pet medication.
As global leaders in innovative recycling, we have proven capabilities with live supply chains in over a dozen countries to collect and recycle blister packs. Read on to discover why this waste stream is not kerbside recyclable and to find out how we recycle it.
Why can’t blister packs go in kerbside recycling?
The main reasons blister packs aren’t recycled in kerbside recycling comes down to economics. The price to recycle them is much higher than the value of the resulting recycled materials; this is why they are typically not accepted in recycling bins anywhere in the world.
So what’s the solution?
To fund the recycling process, TerraCycle has partnered with Territory Pharmacy to run a free in-store recycling program for any brand of blister packs via select pharmacies and clinics in the Northern Territory.
Where can I recycle blister packs with TerraCycle?
TerraCycle is currently running the Territory Pharmacy Blister Pack Free Recycling Program which is free to consumers in the Northern Territory.
In addition to this, we know of a number of retailers and community groups that are offering blister pack recycling through our Zero Waste Boxes, and collect blister packs on behalf of their customers. Although we don’t have a list of all these locations, you can contact your local pharmacy, shopping centre, community centre or council to see if they are offering this service.
We have a number of Zero Waste Boxes that accept blister packs. They are the Empty Blister Packs Zero Waste Box for blister packs only, as well as the Kitchen Separation, Bathroom Separation and the All-In-One Zero Waste Boxes which accept other items in the same box that can be purchased online in Australia or New Zealand.
Read more on the blog to understand why our national recycling programs are free while Zero Waste Boxes cost money.
Why can’t I mail blister packs to TerraCycle for free recycling?
TerraCycle runs many free mail-back recycling programs for other types of rubbish, but right now we don’t have a solution like this in place for blister packs in Australia or New Zealand. To be able to operate these programs at no cost to the public, we require brands to fund the shipping, sorting and processing of rubbish. While our programs are free to you, the consumer, someone always has to foot the recycling bill.
How does TerraCycle process blister packs?
Once collected, the empty blister packs are sent to TerraCycle where they are first checked in at our Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The blister packs are then manually sorted and visually inspected to check for any contamination.
Blister packs are made of plastic with aluminium laminate. First, the materials are shredded. The plastic is then separated from the aluminium through elutriation (air density separation). The plastic fraction then goes through an additional process of micronisation, which converts the material into powder. This allows the remaining aluminium to be removed from the powder through electrostatic separation.
The plastics then go through a melting and extrusion process to produce recycled plastic pellets, which are then used by manufacturers to make a variety of products.
Depending on the plastic composition, recycled materials are fit for use in a range of applications. These finished products are a result of different techniques such as compression moulding (e.g. plastic lumber, composite decking, outdoor furniture, plastic shipping pallets, etc), injection moulding (e.g. waste and recycling bins, dunnage containers, storage totes, small parts, etc) and blow moulding (e.g. bottles, tubes, films, watering cans, etc). An example of this would be a product like the recycled flower pots you might have seen at Bunnings.
Aluminium is shredded, baled, and sent for smelting. The result of this process is typically sheet or bar stock used as the base material for new stamped product applications (e.g. drink cans, aluminium foil, etc).
TerraCycle News 
Where is my nearest pharmacy alliance pharmacy.
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Come on WA! Why are there no free deposit points around Perth? We are an aging population and generate lots of blister packs per household. What about it AMA and the Pharmacy Guild?
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piney lakes Environment centre in Winthrop has a blister pack collection box. The Melville council website will tell you the opening hours.
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All Bloom’s Chemists do now too – thanks a Bloom’s! Would be good if every chemist gave this service.
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Nothing in NSW either. Can post to Flora and Fauna though https://www.floraandfauna.com.au/recycle
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Get the word out to ALL pharmacies throughout Australia and we may see some worthwhile results. If Coles can have a very active recycling programme, surely the Pharmacy Guild etc. can do it too.
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There are 2types of blister pack. Do they both contain plastic even if it is unseen?
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Hi there,
Although there may be some that are purely made from aluminimum, foil blister packs are generally coated with a thin plastic layer, and as such they’re not accepted in your kerbside recycling collection bin, but we provide a recycling solution.
You can search the map on our website to see if there’s a public drop-off point for medicinal blister packs in your area: https://www.terracycle.com/en-AU/about-terracycle/drop_off_locations
There are many more organisations using Zero Waste Boxes to collect blister packs from their customers for recycling. We don’t currently have a list of the organisations providing this service but you can definitely reach out to an organisation in your area to see if they have, or would be interested in providing this service to your community.
Thanks very much for your interest in recycling.
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Hi there
Macedon Ranges residents in Victoria have been taking their empty blister packs to Woodend Pharmacy, who have been happy to send them off to Terracycle as it was a free service. Terracycle are now charging $180 for them to do this each time. Needless to say the pharmacy does not take them anymore which means that thousands of blister packs will have to go into landfill to live for hundreds of years.. Come on big pharma companies who expect everyone else to do the work – put your money where it should go and support Terracycle who will dispose of these blister packs in a much better way, or better still, start using more sustainable recyclable/recycled materials in their products.
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Dunsborough Pharmacy in the South West of WA did take the blister packs (at the urging of the Dunsborough branch of CWA) but charged $2.00 per deposit!!
No box now available so all those people who enthusiastically supporting the scheme are now not recyycling.
Shame on Dunsborough Pharmacy, who have recently increased the size of their shop by a third.
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Do you recycle blister packs in NZ.
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