Disposing of empty HRT containers

[smokingcarriageonly]

This appeared on a letter I received from a private menopause clinic: "NB: Please do dispose of your empty HRT containers sensibly by keeping the sachets, bottles or patches and returning them to your pharmacist for safe disposal."

Is this how we're meant to be disposing of used patches? I couldn't even get the pharmacy to take a single box of unused meds (left over from when my script changed) as the collections were so infrequent they couldn't take any more.

No, I Chuck my oestrogen tub in our recycling

No. Rather an odd suggestion.

You're supposed to return unused meds to a pharmacy but not used things!

My gel bottle goes into the recycling bin.

Thanks for replies.

I had a closer look at this. The doctor who made the request - Dr Naomi Potter - explains: "Oestrogen is a potential pollutant. The impact of environmental Oestrogen on soil, plants, aquatic life, and drinking water is not yet fully understood. Synthetic oestrogens are thought to be most harmful but we don’t fully understand the impact of body identical hormones and they may too be harmful.
When we dispose of HRT containers in the general waste it has potential to contaminate landfill waterways and beyond."

She suggests that incineration is the best solution. Our LA incinerates waste so I'm happy binning mine. I may email her to ask if she's ever tried to return meds to the pharmacy, never mind used HRT products. I don't disagree with the principle, we know now that hormonal birth control and endocrine disruptors have had an effect on environment and animal life, but in practical terms I'm very sceptical that any pharmacy would touch used patches or packaging detritis.