Recycling pill bottles?

Question

i think we should all approach our local pharmacy and ask them when they will be making pills bottles that are enviornmentaly friendly. it cant be THAT big a deal to come up with something could it?

in the meantime, how many thousand and thousands of pills bottles are thrown in the garbage every day because people cant recycle them,as they have personal information on them.

Answer 1

Personally, other than the issue of the child proof cap I don't see any reason they couldn't be dispensed in a paper bag and avoid the pill bottle all together.

This is an excellent example of how people use tooo much packaging and find it acceptable:

They take the pill bottle out of a paper bag, then open the bottle, place the pills in another plastic container with the days of the week stamped on it and throw the bottle away.

How many different packages does a person need to get a pill from the pharmacy to their mouth?

Answer 2

I agree completely!

alot of people in my family take medications and I always feel horribly about throwing them away because I basically recylce anything that can be recylced.

Answer 3

Not all bottles are Number 5, my white pill bottle is a 2, the green  vitamin bottles are number 1,  and the off white bottle is not recyclable because it does not have the recycle emblem on it

I have in my mind that we can drop bottles with a 7 or lower but I can't remember where I saw that. Here is what their Website has posted:

Plastic Bottles & Containers

YES-Plastic (bottles & containers), soda & juice bottles, milk jugs, detergent containers, and dairy containers such as yogurt, cottage cheese or butter containers.

NO-black plastic, Styrofoam or clamshell containers (such as strawberry or take-out containers where the container and lid are attached), lawn furniture, computers,motor oil containers, plant pots, plastic bags (plastic bags can be recycled at most grocery store locations).

PREPARATION-Rinse containers. Do not need to remove lids or labels.

On a second front, I always remove the stickers off my bottle before I recycle them because of identity theft issues and encourage you all to do the same, especially if you take a narcotic or super pain reliever.

Answer 4

You would be talking to the wrong people.  The pharmacist does not make the bottles, (s)he gets the bottles from a distributor or in the case of some large chains, directly from a manufacturer, but don't bother talking to them either.They have limited choices as the material they use, the pill bottles come under the jurisdiction of the FDA, as they control all the aspects of prescription medication.  The bottles have to be watertight and not be damaged by any household cleaner they might come in contact with, so at present, that means plastics,and not wimpy ones either.  The same qualities that make the bottles almost impervious to harm, also make them impossible to recycle. So the Food and Drug Administration has their mandates, which conflict with the Environmental Safety Agency's,and the only material that is acceptable to both groups is a glass bottle (which used to be used) but the Consumer Product Safety Commission would have a kitten because glass breaks and broken glass is a safety hazard.  Meanwhile the earth dies, while our Government protects us to death.  Can you guess why environmentalists have spent years in the halls of Congress.  "It's the other guy's fault!!!

Answer 5

If you're that bothered is it that big a deal to peel the label off?