Vet-Med Disposal Campaign established to facilitate safe disposal of unwanted medicines
08 Jul 2022
Animal Medicines Australia, the peak body for Australia’s animal health companies, has recently launched the Vet-Med Disposal Campaign to help veterinarians, farmers and pet owners dispose of unwanted medicines safely.
According to a 2018 study conducted by Griffiths University, “You don’t throw these things out: an exploration of medicines retention and disposal practices in Australian homes”, many households do not properly store or discard unwanted medicines. This creates a potential hazard to pets or young children who could inadvertently ingest these medications. It also increases the risk of pet owners and farmers self-medicating their animals which may be ineffectual at best, and harmful at worst.
Launching the Return Unwanted Medicines Project (the RUM Project), AMA’s Executive Director Ben Stapley says greater consumer awareness of the risks of keeping expired medicines on the farm or at home is needed.
“Disposing of old, expired and unused medicines responsibly, whether for your human or animal family members, is essential to safeguarding your health and to protect the environment,” says Mr Stapley.
To dispose old, expired and unused medicines safely, veterinarians and pet owners should take the following steps:
- Read labels on all unused medicines and consider whether they are still needed
- Check the expiry date; all expired medicines should be disposed of safely
- Place all medicines to be disposed of in a bag or container for safe transport
- Return them to the local pharmacy, where the pharmacist will put them in a secure bin for disposal.
Veterinarians may also need to advise farmers on how to safely dispose of unwanted medicines, often in larger quantities than pet owners.
- For medicines in containers that are one litre or less, the usual process of disposal (taking the medicines to the local pharmacy for disposal via the RUM Project) is suitable
- Larger quantities in containers more than one litre may be eligible for Agsafe’s ClemClear® program, which is also free for products carrying the drumMUSTER logo.
The following resources, including client education posters and an information brochure for veterinarians, are available for practices to download:
For more information and to check eligibility criteria go to animalmedicines.org.au, www.chemclear.org.au, www.returnmed.com.au or talk to your local pharmacist.