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Consumer Medicines Disposal Behavior: Insights Towards a More Sustainable Chain

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Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM 2022)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 400))

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Abstract

The amount of waste related to the improper disposal of medicines by the end consumer increases propositionally to the pharmaceutical industry’s growth. Although many studies propose public policies that encourage the environmentally proper disposal of medicines, the domestic waste remains the main form of disposal. In this context, there are opportunities for research to understand consumer behavior and, based on this, generate insights to make the medicines chain more sustainable. This study aims to investigate medicine disposal behavior of consumers in Southern Brazil. A quantitative research was conducted through the application of a survey with a non-probabilistic sample of 204 consumers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics through frequency analysis. The results show that most consumers discard end-of-use medicines in the household waste, sink or toilet. Consumers say they have not received information or guidelines for environmentally proper disposal. Based on the findings, insights are provided to stimulate pro-environmental consumer behavior and to the design of circular business models in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel in Brazil (CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) for the financial support received to conduct this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Engineering Graduate Program, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Nicole Cecchele Lago, Camila Kolling, Janine Fleith de Medeiros & José Luis Duarte Ribeiro

  2. Graduate Program on Business Administration and Graduate Program on Environmental Sciences, Universidade de Passo Fundo (UPF), Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Milene Schaiane Auler & Janine Fleith de Medeiros

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  1. Nicole Cecchele Lago
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  2. Camila Kolling
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering, Universidad Anáhuac, Anáhuac Huixquilucan, Mexico

    Victor Manuel López Sánchez

  2. Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Francisco Gaudêncio Mendonça Freires

  3. Industrial Engineering and Management, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Carlos Gonçalves dos Reis

  4. DEGEIT, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Joana Maria Costa Martins das Dores

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Lago, N.C., Kolling, C., Auler, M.S., de Medeiros, J.F., Ribeiro, J.L.D. (2022). Consumer Medicines Disposal Behavior: Insights Towards a More Sustainable Chain. In: López Sánchez, V.M., Mendonça Freires, F.G., Gonçalves dos Reis, J.C., Costa Martins das Dores, J.M. (eds) Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. IJCIEOM 2022. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 400. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14763-0_15

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