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May 9th, 2024
Here’s a bit of a head scratcher in the recycling world: blister packs. You know them – those plastic and foil packages that hold everything from medications to batteries, often leaving us puzzled at the bin: Recycle, general waste, or something else?
While many items are readily accepted for recycling, blister packs can often be more challenging to recycle due to their unique composition.
To know how to recycle blister packs, you need to understand what they’re made of. At NRC, we’re here to guide you through the maze of recycling do’s and don’ts, turning confusion into clarity and making eco-friendly choices easier than ever. Let’s get into it.
This guide covers:
Can I Recycle Blister Packs?
Most local councils and authorities typically don’t include empty blister packs in their household recycling programs. As a result, these items often end up in general household waste, headed for landfill or incineration.
If your workplace, such as a care home or hospital, is producing lots of waste blister packs, then you can collect these in a dedicated waste bin. Our experts at NRC have extensive experience in sustainably disposing of blister packs, so you can count on us to manage this waste in an eco-friendly way. The cardboard boxes and paper inserts that accompany blister packs can be recycled with your normal mixed-recycling collection.
The process of recycling blister packs
Blister packs are commonly used for packaging consumer products, particularly pharmaceuticals and small retail items. However, because they are made of a combination of plastics, aluminium, and paper, it can be difficult to separate and recycle these materials efficiently. That’s why the collection process involves several steps, making sure every piece of recovered material is of a high quality.
Firstly, collection bins are clearly labelled to stop any cross contamination with other materials. Once the bins are full, they are collected by recycling companies specialising in these materials. The collected items are then transported to recycling facilities where the cleaning and separation processes take place.
During the cleaning process, blister packs are thoroughly washed and disinfected to remove any traces of contaminants. After cleaning, specialised machinery separates each material type (usually aluminium foil and plastic). Once separated, the materials are transformed into raw formats for manufacturing new products.
Blister Pack Recycling with NRC
While we currently don’t provide dedicated blister pack recycling services, we may be able to integrate that as part of one of our wider waste management services. Reach out today to see how we can help you save money and streamline your processes.
Whether you dispose of blister packaging in your clinical waste or office sanitary waste, you can trust NRC to handle all of your business waste sustainably. We can even set you up with the dedicated collection bins you need, and tailor the collection schedule to meet your exact needs and budget. With 99% of the waste we collect avoiding landfill, it just makes sense to choose NRC for your blister pack waste collections.
