442 Health Care Waste
Antibiotics and other medicines
Old medicines are another kind of chemical waste that need to be disposed
of safely. Getting rid of antibiotics and other medicines safely means
keeping them out of water sources and away from people who handle waste.
Unfortunately, health centers, pharmacies, and drug companies often get rid of
old medicines unsafely, in open dump sites, waterways, or down the drain.
When antibiotics are dumped into the environment, they can cause
antibiotic resistance in people, animals, and even germs that come into
contact with them. This means that when people take antibiotics to fight
infections, the medicines will be less effective because fewer germs will be
killed by them.
Buy and use fewer antibiotics
Do not use antibiotics for health problems they cannot cure.
(For more information about how to use antibiotics, see Where
There Is No Doctor, pages 55 to 58, and Helping Health Workers
Learn, Chapter 19.) When your health center buys only the
amount of antibiotics it needs, then fewer drugs will need to be
dumped because they are old.
Return expired medicines to the manufacturer
The drug companies that make medicines have the
equipment to safely dispose of expired antibiotics and other
medicines, and they should do this. But if you are unable to
return medicines to the company that made them, there
are ways you can dispose of them safely.
How to dispose of medicines safely
➊ Wear gloves, safety glasses, and a dust mask.
➋ Mix pills with dry cement powder.
➌ Add water and form cement into solid balls.
➍ Bury these cement balls in a sealed waste pit.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012