Re-Hale project allows patients to recycle inhalers

NHS staff across east Kent have launched a pilot project to encourage people to recycle their inhalers.

Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board and Chiesi Limited are working on the 12-month pilot of Re-Hale. Staff from within East Kent Hospitals are supporting the project, which aims to develop a logistical framework for others to replicate and ensure opportunities are highlighted for further adoption.

Nationwide, 60 million inhalers are issued each year, accounting for three per cent of the total NHS carbon footprint. The vast majority end up in landfill – but Re-Hale will allow people to return them to pharmacies across Kent.

Gaye Lewington, chief pharmacist at NHS Kent and Medway, said: “We are really excited to launch Re-Hale and we are hoping to get as many sites signed up across east Kent as possible to make it easy for people to recycle.

“It has the potential to have a real impact on our carbon footprint, and to make a real difference to our environment.”

Shish Patel, medical director at Chiesi Limited, said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board to pilot this important project.

“Evaluating potential new ways of reducing the environmental impact of medical waste is an important part of the process of moving towards a greener NHS and industry.”

The team hope to prove inhalers can be recycled at scale efficiently and effectively.

People will be able to drop off inhalers that are empty or no longer needed at participating pharmacies including those attached to GP surgeries, community pharmacies, and the pharmacy dispensaries at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, and William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

Alliance Healthcare will pick up the inhalers at the same time as they deliver medicines, further reducing the environmental impact of the scheme.

All types and brands of inhalers can be recycled.

Pharmacies are being encouraged to sign up to the scheme, and those participating will be listed at: www.kentandmedway.icb.nhs.uk/east-kent-inhaler-recycling

This work is a collaboration between NHS Kent and Medway ICB and Chiesi Limited. For more information see the project executive summary at https://www.chiesi.uk.com/collaboration.