Medication Disposal

Bring Us Your Expired Medications

Don't dump drugs in the toilet or trash! Please bring your expired medications back to our pharmacy for safe disposal. Many prescription medications, over-the-counter products and health supplements remain in medicine cabinets and kitchen drawers long after their expiry date, while others are simply unused.

So why shouldn't you just throw them in the garbage or flush them down the toilet? Medications in garbage can pose a hazard to pets and wildlife, and can also infiltrate groundwater, eventually entering drinking water and the food chain. Leachate, the rainwater that percolates through the landfill and collects at the bottom, has been shown to contain antidepressants, antibiotics, steroids, hormones, heart and asthma medications and painkillers.

Drugs flushed down the toilet enter the waste water treatment system, which is not designed to filter out the complex chemicals that make up today's medicines. Contaminated water gets released to the environment and negatively affects aquatic organisms, fish and other wildlife.

Safe Disposal of Expired Medications

Medication Returns Program All medications returned to the pharmacy are safely incinerated by an environmental company, preventing them from entering landfills, sewers, and the environment at large. We request that before bringing in your unused or expired medications, please remove tablets/capsules from their vials or packaging and place them all into one clear, resealable bag. Keep liquids, creams, or other non-tablet medications in original packaging but remove all personal information. The prescription labels can be removed by soaking in warm water or you can make them unreadable by scratching or writing over with permanent black marker.

Recycling of Vials, Lids and Packaging Remove the prescription label from vial or packaging, and shred for confidentiality.  Place the vial and lid or packaging in household recycling.

Needle Disposal Program This program allows you to safely dispose of your used lancets and needles. With the purchase of 100 BD syringes or pen needles, you will receive a certified biohazard needle disposal container free of charge. (If you are not buying needles, you may still purchase a container for a nominal charge.) Filled containers may be returned to a London Drugs pharmacy and we will dispose of the contents in a way that is safe for the public and the environment.

For more information visit the Government of Canada website: http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/health-sante/medicine-medicament/disposal-defaire-eng.php