Don’t just chuck them in the bin – Dr Heidi Seage

Imagine using an inhaler every day, tossing it in the bin when empty all without knowing you are contributing to global carbon emissions.

Sustainability is vital in Welsh health and social care research because it addresses the long-term environmental and public health impacts of healthcare practices. With NHS Wales as one of the leading public sector carbon emitters, contributing approximately 2.6% of Wales’ total emissions, the Welsh Government aims to ensure the NHS in Wales plays its part in improving environmental sustainability.

Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) are vital for managing asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but they come at an environmental cost. The UK’s NHS estimates that MDIs account for approximately 3% of its carbon footprint.

Here in Wales, promising recycling initiatives are being established where inhalers are collected by the community pharmacist for safe and eco-friendly disposal.

Dr Heidi Seage, Principal Lecturer in Health Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and the wider team investigated people’s views on a scheme that would allow them to recycle their inhalers within local community pharmacies.  

To explore this topic through research they used a behavioural insights approach.

They decided to have a look at the views of people using inhalers and community pharmacists’ who were delivering an innovative pilot scheme which encouraged people to return their used or unneeded inhalers to the pharmacy for recycling.

Patients and pharmacists had differing views on the scheme. Patients were eager to be sustainable but felt uninformed about the need to recycle inhalers. They felt that the community pharmacy was an ideal location for such an initiative but were worried that pharmacists were often very busy and this may limit their ability to support such a scheme . Meanwhile, pharmacists documented good engagement with the pilot scheme but had believed they shouldn't be solely responsible for promoting inhaler recycling .

The data from the scheme can help to shape future initiatives for inhaler recycling in community pharmacies in Wales.”

Find out more about this research and why this recycling scheme is a necessary step towards greener healthcare by watching Dr Seage’s TED-style talk delivered at our Health and Care Research Wales conference 2024.