The scheme will run from today (November 1), with the aim of expanding within a year, according to Novo Nordisk.
Under the pilot, pharmacists and their teams across 14 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be able to recycle Novo Nordisk’s pre-filled plastic injection pens, FlexPen® and FlexTouch®, used by patients with diabetes or obesity.
Previously, these plastic injection pens would be destined for landfill.
The CCGs where the initiative is being offered are located across Glasgow and Clyde; Leicester City CCG; East Leicestershire & Rutland CCG; West Leicestershire CCG; Bolton CCG; Bury CCG; Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale CCG; Manchester CCG; Oldham CCG; Salford CCG; Stockport CCG; Tameside & Glossop CCG; Trafford CCG and Wigan Borough CCG.
Pending a positive evaluation, the pilot will also be expanded to a national roll-out next year, Novo Nordisk added.
Materials provided free of charge to pharmacies
Participating pharmacies will receive a PenCycle Starter Pack. This includes PenCycle return boxes – which patients can use to collect their used pens at home – and a PenCycle recycling bin for collecting return boxes.
These free materials can be ordered via Alliance Healthcare. Pharmacies can order more materials by using the relevant Alliance Healthcare PIP-CODES and placing orders via their patient medication record platform, the My AH Portal or by calling Alliance Healthcare customer services on 0330 100 0448.
Pharmacies that have not yet signed up but are located within the pilot areas are encouraged to join the scheme by signing up online via the Alliance Healthcare website. A list of participating pharmacies can also be found online.
Aims for the pilot
The pilot is a first step in providing a “viable recycling alternative” for used medical pens, 23 million of which are sent to incinerators or landfill every year in the UK, Novo Nordisk said.
The scheme aims to recycle over 150,000 pre-filled plastic injection pen devices by June 2022, diverting over two tonnes of plastic materials from UK landfill.
By the end of 2022, it is expected that 1.1 million pre-filled plastic injection pen devices will have been recycled, Novo Nordisk said, with a potential to recycle over 3 million pen devices in 2023. This would prevent over 56 tonnes of plastic waste, it said.
Lloydspharmacy “delighted to support” scheme
Following the pilot’s launch, Novo Nordisk’s UK general manager, Pinder Sahota said: “It was important that as well as being environmentally sustainable, PenCycle would also meet the needs of the people that we serve.
“Therefore, we have focused on establishing partnerships with community pharmacies to ensure that people have varied and convenient options to recycle their pre-filled injection pen devices.”
Chief retail officer at LloydsPharmacy, Kevin Birch, added that Lloydspharmacy is “delighted to be supporting” the pilot so customers “can conveniently return their empty insulin pens when collecting their next prescription”.
