USPS launches prescription disposal service
Veterans in the US will be able to dispose of expired and unused prescriptions under a new initiative from USPS and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This pilot programme is limited to an estimated 780,000 veterans living in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and West Virginia. Veterans mail back outdated, unwanted medicine. Federally approved facilities safely destroy the medicine, insuring that prescriptions don’t end up in municipal refuse, soil or ground water.
“This initiative pairs the convenience of the mail with the safety of a federally approved prescription drug disposal process,” said Robert Bernstock, president, Mailing and Shipping Services. “The Prescription Mail Back programme demonstrates the Postal Service’s continued value as an integral part of American communities.”
Customers receive specially designed, postage-paid envelopes and instructions with their prescription fulfillment. Expired and unused pharmaceuticals placed in the special packaging can be dropped in USPS collection boxes or at Post Offices. The envelopes are delivered to facilities regulated and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Pharmaceuticals from this and other similar mail-back initiatives are destroyed in accordance with EPA and DEA standards, including cataloguing and use of incineration, chemical or thermal processes.
