Inhaler Return and Recycling - an award winning project in London

I recently heard about this fantastic project, which won an innovation and best practice award at PrescQIPP, and the authors kindly agreed to me sharing it here. I really hope it can provide both inspiration, and some useful resources, for others trying to improve inhaler return rates and/or implement inhaler recycling. 

In 2024, South East London (SEL) ICS launched England’s first fully NHS-funded, ICS-wide inhaler recycling project. Running across 20 community pharmacies and all five acute and mental health trusts in SEL, the pilot is fully integrated across primary and secondary care. The public can return used inhalers to any participating site, where they are separated from regular medicines returns and sent for 99.9% component recovery—including aluminium, plastic, and residual HFA gas.

The scheme uses existing NHS clinical waste infrastructure, including contracts with PHS Group and Grundon Waste Management, to implement a new disposal route for pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs). Community pharmacies collect pMDIs in specially designated bins, and acute trusts have bins in respiratory clinics, wards, and outpatient pharmacies. Inhalers are safely transported to Grundon for specialist recovery.
 

Posters, stickers, and digital surveys were co-designed with patients to encourage correct disposal. Monthly data reporting tracks return rates and will support a full NHSE-led evaluation in 2025/26. In a recent update from the project lead, as of 14/10/25 – approximately 18,000 inhalers have been collected!

This innovative project shows inhaler recycling can be embedded in existing NHS systems. It presents a replicable and scalable national model, supporting medicines optimisation, waste reduction, and sustainability. The pilot’s outcomes will inform future commissioning and advance the NHS’s Net Zero goals.

You can find out more, and access some of the resources (including stickers reminding people to return their inhaler to a pharmacy for disposal - so even if recycling is not an option for your area currently, you could improve return rates which still has a positive environmental impact!) here: https://www.selondonics.org/our-residents/your-health/local-nhs-services/inhaler-return-and-recycling/