ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS ON WASTE GENERATED IN PHARMACIES THAT IMPACT THE PHARMACEUTICAL PROFESSION

Abstract

The incorrect disposal of pharmaceutical waste has a significant impact on the environment and health, particularly expired medications, commonly known as expired or unused medicines, which are becoming increasingly important due to the numerous pharmacies and drugstores opened in recent years, generating a large amount of waste of this nature. Therefore, it is important that pharmacists are trained to correctly dispose of this waste, not only at the workplace but also by guiding and raising awareness among the population. One option that pharmacists have to raise awareness among society and entrepreneurs is reverse logistics (LR), which is the National Solid Waste Policy (Law 12.305/2010) that aims to create a set of actions and procedures that make medications, leftovers, and their packaging go back from consumers to the business sector for reuse and recycling of the packaging, having their final destination environmentally correct, without aggravating nature, since domestic pharmaceutical waste is improperly disposed of in common garbage that ends up in the public sewer system, contaminating soil and water. By taking these measures, pharmacists can avoid punishment since the regulatory norms (RDC 222) require good practices for managing pharmaceutical waste.