Foil strips for medication.

I have just had a knee replacement surgery, on blood thinners and lots of pills, I cut myself so badly on one of the foil strips, blood was gushing everywhere, all in bedside cabinet draw, carpets, all from the tablet strip. I appreciate I prob bled more due to blood thinners but it was very scary! I now dispense them into other containers for the day, very carefully!!!

Blister pack opener. It pushes out the pill for you, and catches it in a holder - no more losing pills under the fridge.
www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=pill+blister+pack+opener&tag=gransnetforum-21

If you are feeling strongly enough about the medicinal blister packs (or anything else that doesn't seem to be widely recycled) to actually pay out money, or can persuade an organisation to sponsor collecting them for recycling, Terracycle provides these facilities.

I had a large carrier bag of blister packs, which I had started keeping a few years ago when I learnt that one of the pharmacy chains would accept them. My nearest branch was in the centre of town, and it was during Covid lockdown, so I waited until I had a bagful, then enquired about taking them in - no, they had withdrawn from the scheme! But I kept collecting - then heard that SOME branches of Superdrug would take them - but my nearest participating branch was in Stirling, too far for a quick bus trip.

I was starting to think I would have to just dump them when I found Terracycle. I think they primarily supplied big printed cardboard boxes for organisations to collect specific items for recycling - the cost of the box includes carriage and the cost of recycling, which in some cases has to be paid for as it doesn't produce enough return to be viable. However, they have recently introduced printed heavy plastic bags for smaller amounts, for individuals or small businesses, at lower prices. zerowastebag.co.uk/

It is £39 for a large bag (which holds a LOT A smaller one would have been £25) and when it is full I will take it to a locker at Tescos. My bag is currently in my local Community Centre, where it is filling up faster than I could fill it alone.
£39, or even £25, is quite a lot for an individual to shell out, but perhaps we need to put our hands into our pockets in the interests of global pollution by packaging? Many of us volunteer or have contacts with community organisations, maybe we could persuade them to invest in bags for a couple of categories and display them where those using the community can contribute?

They also have links to FREE recycling schemes run by various manufacturers for the things they make. For instance, there are some for contact lenses and solution bottles, toothbrushes, beauty product containers, crisp packets, Pringles packaging, cheese wrappers etc etc. www.terracycle.com/en-GB/brigades It is worth a look.

When I have had difficulty – because of a broken wrist, for example – I have used a tiny penknife to cut through the foil layer at the edge of the tablet it was covering and to turn the foil back so that the tablet fell out. Any finely pointed knife would work similarly I should think.

Normally I split the foil with a thumb nail before trying to push the tablet out.

I've never had a cut from the foil but I expect foil thickness varies and perhaps I've been lucky.

Dickens

Doodledog

Things seem very wasteful these days - it seems madness not to recycle old pill bottles. Similarly, my surgery will only accept urine samples in the tubular bottles designed for the purpose. I don't know if they are recycled in the lab, but they won't take old spice jars or the sort of thing people might have in the house as they used to (I used to use film cartridges when they were available!). Instead you have to buy one from the chemist or go to the surgery to ask for one.

Things seem very wasteful these days - it seems madness not to recycle old pill bottles.

Yep. So much is now recycled - why not those little bottles? I'm sure we have the technology to sterilise them. But the machines and equipment used in the manufacturing process are not going to be chucked out any time soon. I suspect it's actually cheaper to foil-wrap them, so those strips are here to stay.

... and now pharmacies are refusing to take them back for re-cycling because they're overwhelmed (an end result which anyone with a modicum of intelligence would've been able to envisage).

Those blister packs are made up of complex materials, some of which are difficult to recycle - and the re-cycling scheme is now overwhelmed! I wonder how long it will be before we are levied a charge on it...

Apparently, the recycled packs can be made into garden furniture!

The thing is the tablets need to have their instructions with them now, and you can’t put all of that on a label. I think it was new legislation issued yeas ago. Also it means the original container hasn’t been tampered with and, if there is a problem they know which batch it came from.

I can't find anywhere local to take them so I am working my way to my first garden chair!

Doodledog

Things seem very wasteful these days - it seems madness not to recycle old pill bottles. Similarly, my surgery will only accept urine samples in the tubular bottles designed for the purpose. I don't know if they are recycled in the lab, but they won't take old spice jars or the sort of thing people might have in the house as they used to (I used to use film cartridges when they were available!). Instead you have to buy one from the chemist or go to the surgery to ask for one.

Things seem very wasteful these days - it seems madness not to recycle old pill bottles.

Yep. So much is now recycled - why not those little bottles? I'm sure we have the technology to sterilise them. But the machines and equipment used in the manufacturing process are not going to be chucked out any time soon. I suspect it's actually cheaper to foil-wrap them, so those strips are here to stay.

... and now pharmacies are refusing to take them back for re-cycling because they're overwhelmed (an end result which anyone with a modicum of intelligence would've been able to envisage).

Those blister packs are made up of complex materials, some of which are difficult to recycle - and the re-cycling scheme is now overwhelmed! I wonder how long it will be before we are levied a charge on it...

Apparently, the recycled packs can be made into garden furniture!

I use a part of nail scissors to score round the foil or paper backing and find my tablets easy to get out that way. My hands tremble and find trying to push them out hard without the scoring. I like to be in control of my own tablets and as my dosage can change daily depending on my pain levels . I fill my pill dosage box up on a Saturday and take out the daily sleeve . It works for me.

I have had many cuts! Just Google pill popper and you'll see a device that pops the pills out of the blister pack.

Superdrug might but our chemists can't take any more as the recycling place they sent them to was overwhelmed.

Things seem very wasteful these days - it seems madness not to recycle old pill bottles. Similarly, my surgery will only accept urine samples in the tubular bottles designed for the purpose. I don't know if they are recycled in the lab, but they won't take old spice jars or the sort of thing people might have in the house as they used to (I used to use film cartridges when they were available!). Instead you have to buy one from the chemist or go to the surgery to ask for one.

Callistemon21

Yes, I've had little cuts from them and find them more difficult to use just lately.

Just the other day I thought bring back those small brown bottles. At least they could be recycled more easily.

Several places have stopped taking the empty strips for recycling now as they couldn't cope with the amount.

I didn’t realise that. I’ve been saving them to take to Superdrug. I used to dispense tablets into those little bottles. The patients used to return them to me and I would wash them out and reuse them.Not allowed now. Used to have a triangular shaped tray to measure the tablets and I loved it if I got the correct amount first time. It was a bit dangerous though eg warfarin would come in several colours and it was quite easy to take too many of the stronger ones by mistake.

I don't seem to have any trouble with the foil strips

One of my medications has sticky paper on the back, instead of foil, so you can't dig it out with your fingernail - you have to push it through pill-side to tear the sticky paper on 't'other... which then sticks to your finger, sometimes with the pill attached so when you flick it in the bin, the pill goes in the bin with it <<<sigh>>>

Doodledog

I've seen an ad for a service that puts pills in pouches each containing a day's supply and posts them to you. It is a free service - your GP sends your prescriptions to them and they fulfil them and send them out to you. I don't know what it's called, but someone must use it and might be able to comment. I believe you have to have four or more pills on repeat to qualify.

I found it!

ipill.co.uk

You have to get the magnifying glass out and go over every inch of floor - you may not see it with the naked eye but the visiting dog(s) is sure to sniff it out in seconds!

Auntieflo

And when you do manage to wrestle them from their little nest, they ricochet across the table, never to be seen again.

I know where they are, they are under the range and inaccessible!

Kateykrunch

Might be a helpful tip……try breaking the silver side of where the tablet is with your finger nail and then push as per normal on the plastic side and it will come out easier, hope this helps, works for me.

I think the foil is stronger than my finger nails!

I've seen an ad for a service that puts pills in pouches each containing a day's supply and posts them to you. It is a free service - your GP sends your prescriptions to them and they fulfil them and send them out to you. I don't know what it's called, but someone must use it and might be able to comment. I believe you have to have four or more pills on repeat to qualify.

Yes. Whenever I fill my dosette box I end up with at least one cut or more and have now started putting a plaster by the side of me in readiness. I thought it was me having arthritis in my fingers so find gett8ng tablets out of foil difficult but it looks as though many of us have the same problem.

Might be a helpful tip……try breaking the silver side of where the tablet is with your finger nail and then push as per normal on the plastic side and it will come out easier, hope this helps, works for me.

And when you do manage to wrestle them from their little nest, they ricochet across the table, never to be seen again.

I struggle every day to remove my meds from the foil things. Why do they make it so difficult.....

Yes, I've had little cuts from them and find them more difficult to use just lately.

Just the other day I thought bring back those small brown bottles. At least they could be recycled more easily.

Several places have stopped taking the empty strips for recycling now as they couldn't cope with the amount.

I struggle to get all my medication out of those damn strips 🤬