Skip to main content

Household medicine disposal and waste management in Ireland, the need for a systems-based approach

Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) (2022)Cite this article

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  1. Amaral M, Fop L (2013) Unused pharmaceuticals where do they end up? A snapshot of European collection schemes. Health Care Without Harm, Europe. https://noharm-europe.org/documents/unused-pharmaceuticals-where-do-they-end-snapshot-european-collection-schemes Accessed 6 Jan 2022

  2. Mitkidis K, Obolevich V, Chrysochou P, Mitkidis P (2021) Harmonisation of pharmaceutical take-back systems in the EU. Eur J Health Law 1:1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Environmental Protection Agency (2021) Draft national hazardous waste management plan 2021 – 2027 for public consultation. Environmental Protection Agency, Wexford, Ireland https://www.epa.ie/publications/corporate/consultations/-consultations/Draft-NHWMP-2021-27_public-consultation.pdf Accessed 6 Jan 2022

  4. National Poisons Information Centre (2020) Poisons Information Centre of Ireland, annual report 2020. National Poisons Information Centre, Dublin, Ireland https://poisons.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2020-NPIC-Annual-Report-.pdf Accessed 6 Jan 2022

  5. Wilkinson JL, Boxall AB, Kolpin DW et al (2022) Pharmaceutical pollution of the world’s rivers. Proc Natl Acad Sci 119:e2113947119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Barnes KK, Christenson SC, Kolpin DW et al (2004) Pharmaceuticals and other organic waste water contaminants within a leachate plume downgradient of a municipal landfill. Groundwater Monitor Remediat 24:119–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2022) Municipal waste, generation and treatment. https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=MUNW# Accessed 22 Mar 2022

  8. Vellinga A, Cormican S, Driscoll J et al (2014) Public practice regarding disposal of unused medicines in Ireland. Sci Total Environ 478:98–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2021) Working Party on Resource Productivity and Waste. Management of pharmaceutical household waste. Guidance for efficient management of unused or expired medicine. Contract No.: ENV/EPOC/WPRPW(2020)10/REV1

  10. Health Service Executive (2020) Free service to Dispose of Unused Medicines Properly (DUMP). Health Service Executive. https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/media/pressrel/free-service-to-dispose-of-unused-medicines-properly-dump-.html Accessed 6 Jan 2022

  11. Medsdisposal (2020) Meds Disposal: Easier Than you Think. http://medsdisposal.eu/. Accessed 6 Jan 2022

  12. Toma A, Crişan O (2021) Regulations on green pharmacy in European countries–a comparative study. Farmacia 62:182–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. United Nations. Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_CONF.151_26_Vol.I_Declaration.pdf Accessed 6 Jul 2022

  14. Chung S-s, Brooks BW (2019) Identifying household pharmaceutical waste characteristics and population behaviors in one of the most densely populated global cities. Resour Conserv Recycl 140:267–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Zorpas AA, Dimitriou M, Voukkali I (2018) Disposal of household pharmaceuticals in insular communities: social attitude, behaviour evaluation and prevention activities. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:26725–26735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Constantino VM, Fregonesi BM, Tonani KAA et al (2020) Storage and disposal of pharmaceuticals at home: a systematic review. Cien Saude Colet 25:585–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. West LM, Diack L, Cordina M, Stewart D (2014) A systematic review of the literature on ‘medication wastage’: an exploration of causative factors and effect of interventions. Int J Clin Pharm 36:873–881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Fiksel J, Bruins R, Gatchett A et al. (2014) The triple value model: a systems approach to sustainable solutions. Clean Technol Environ Policy 16:691–702

    Google Scholar 

  19. Corrigan S, Kay A, O’Byrne K et al (2018) A socio-technical exploration for reducing & mitigating the risk of retained foreign objects. Int J Environ Res Public Health 15:714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ghazinoory S, Nasri S, Ameri F et al (2020) Why do we need ‘Problem-oriented Innovation System (PIS)’for solving macro-level societal problems? Technol Forecast Soc Chang 150:119749

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Maryam AlMutairi & Tamasine Grimes

  2. School of Pharmacy, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

    Maryam AlMutairi

  3. School of Medicine, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

    Patrick Redmond

  4. School of Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK

    Patrick Redmond

  5. Centre for Innovative Human Systems, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Sam Cromie

Authors
  1. Maryam AlMutairi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrick Redmond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sam Cromie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tamasine Grimes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tamasine Grimes.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

Not required.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

AlMutairi, M., Redmond, P., Cromie, S. et al. Household medicine disposal and waste management in Ireland, the need for a systems-based approach. Ir J Med Sci (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-022-03099-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-022-03099-3