Now that we are spending a lot of time at home, maybe one of the things we do is clean the medicine cabinet, or maybe we go to the pharmacy in search of some medicine that ends up expiring in the middle of taking. It is possible that in these cases the doubt of what to do with these expired drugs serving? Do I throw them in the trash? Do I separate the box to the container from the cardboard and the rest to the garbage?
That is why we are going to talk about what to do with those expired medications that we have at home. Of course, we can safely get rid of them when the quarantine is over, for now We can put them aside in a bag to know that those do not serve us.
The best guideline to get rid of our expired medications is go to our reference pharmacy with them and leave them at their SIGRE point recycling and when in doubt with any of these drugs, consult the pharmacist.
Anyway, we will try to resolve any possible doubts throughout this article.
What is the expiration date of medicines?
It is that date that We guarantee the stability and effectiveness of the medicine as long as it is in its container in suitable conditions. Therefore a drug that has not been in good condition must be removed from our medicine cabinet.
This date has a established legal limit of five years, but the normal thing is that let's find the exact expiration date on the box and also on the inner packaging to house the box in case it gets lost.
The exact expiration date of a medicine that has been optimally preserved is the last day of the month indicated on the package. One time After this date the properties of the drugs may be affected therefore they should not be consumed.
Which medicines to recycle and which ones not?
All medications can be recycled that we have at home. Moreover, it is advisable to do at least one medicine cabinet cleaning every year, which is what the expiration margin of the drugs we buy is usually.
It is necessary to avoid that the medicines are thrown to the garbage of house or to the drains since they can contaminate the water and the floors.
What you have to keep in mind is that they are products that they must not end up mixed with household garbage or flushed down the drain. This would be harmful to the environment and also your medicines would not be being recycled just thrown away from your house.
In addition, recycling the packaging helps to save energy.
Therefore, recycling medicines properly is very important for the environment.
What if I have an empty container?
Empty medicine containers they should not be thrown away either. Take into account that the containers have been in direct contact with the medicine and, therefore, they usually carry remains of it. Therefore, you must put them in the same bag as the expired medicines while waiting to deposit them in a special container.
What if I don't know what a drug is for because I don't have the package insert?
Lo It is advisable to get rid of everyone those medicines that do not have a leaflet or the box to tell us what they are and what they are for. It is the best way to avoid confusing them with another medicine and leading to problems.
In general, you have to get rid of any medicine that has not been stored properly.
How do I know if it has been stored properly?
Temperature is a fundamental factor for the conservation of a medicine, so if it has been subjected to high temperatures it must be discarded.
If they have been out of their original packaging they can also be damaged, as well as if they have been very close to electrical appliances and their electromagnetic fields.
What if the medicine is not expired but I am not going to use it?
It is advisable to have a basic kit at home that contains utensils such as tweezers, thermometers or scissors, as well as iodine, hydrogen peroxide, anti-inflammatories, ointments for burns, antiallergic drugs, etc.
However those medications that have been prescribed, such as antibiotics, it is recommended that they are not in our medicine cabinet if we no longer need them, so that at each cleaning of the medicine cabinet they must be removed even if they have not yet expired.
What products from the medicine cabinet should I not recycle along with my medications?
Objects like thermometers, needles, gauze pads or any other similar object should not be thrown away with the medicines but at the recycling clean point marked by each municipality.
Where to take the bag with all the medicines and containers?
The SIGRE (Integrated System of Management and Collection of Containers) is in Spain in charge of recycling all medicines and packaging we've been talking about so far. This Non-profit entity collaborates with pharmaceutical companies to provide a solution to all waste related to medicines, which are generated in the houses.
Therefore, to recycle this bag, you just have to take it to your reference pharmacy and drop it off at the SIGRE point they have enabled.
It is recommended, as long as the medications can have their packaging and leaflet. In this way, we help speed up the identification tasks that the company will have to do later. Although if you do not have the boxes or the leaflets, you should also throw your medications here.
What happens to the medicines that I have deposited at the collection point?
SIGRE points deposits, They are collected and sent to the drug waste treatment plant. There they are separated and classified by materials in the case of packaging, and medicines are separated and classified according to their type.
The containers are sent to companies that work with this material, be it cardboard, glass, paper or plastic, and they are recycled.
On the other hand, drugs that are not harmful are used to recover energy. They are burned and used as fuel in industrial facilities or to generate electrical energy.
The Dangerous drugs, however, are taken to a company specializing in them so that they can be destroyed.
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Therefore, the best thing is that when we clean the medicine cabinet we remove all those expired medications, those that we no longer need and those whose box and / or leaflet have disappeared.