Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles

RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Linda (Guest Post) (09/13/2008) I work/help run a SVDP dining room. We are in need of used prescription bottles. We put shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, etc. in them for the homeless and poor. I would be glad to take some of the empty bottles. The people would appreciate it very much. Thank you. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Stacy in Maryland (Guest Post) (09/05/2008) Check out the following websites for recycling your RX bottles! http://waste-not-want-not.tripod.com/id14.html http://pharm-ecological.ca/3911.html You have to send them your bottles but for me it's worth it! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Lisa M (Guest Post) (09/04/2008) Can I get the name and address of the place in Haiti who takes prescription bottles? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Mickey7 (Guest Post) (08/07/2008) Re: Melanie "Our curbside recycling does take them." Mine also takes lots of stuff--then promptly transfers what they can't legally recycle to a landfill. Unfortunately, just picking them up is no guarantee that they are being recycled. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Gary (Guest Post) (07/21/2008) The red prescription bottles from Target pharmacy are made from #1 PETE plastic which is easily recyclable anywhere. Tranfer or fill your prescriptions at Target and give up the old #5 orange bottles which everyone else seems to use. It's better for you and the planet. Report Spam or Abuse Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Marcy (Guest Post) (06/18/2008) If you throw away prescription bottles it'll either go into a landfill or get burned at a waste facility that burns municipal trash like the city of Long Beach, CA. When the plastic burns, they release dioxin which is known to cause cancer. My city doesn't have a recycling program but I'm going to remove the paper label (as much as possible) and take it to a place that accepts plastics for recycling. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By (Guest Post) (05/31/2008) Check with your local Vet to see if they will take them to use to dispense meds to animals. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Jules (Guest Post) (03/29/2008) OOps the website that has theinformation on National Safety Dose Day is www.dosekeeper.com Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Jules (Guest Post) (03/29/2008) Hi I bought a great product that helps me keep track of my chld's medication called the Dose Keeper. Anyways they started National Safety Dose Day where they encourage everyone to go into their medicine cabinets and get rid of expired medicine bottles. Then Safety Dose Day people hold drives accross the nation collecting empty medicine bottles and then donating them to a homeless shelter who reuses them to put in shampoo, hand cream, and other semi-liquids in so that homeless people can have a small supply of health products that are easy to carry. Great cause for oth humanity and the earth! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Von (Guest Post) (03/14/2008) Federal law prohibits pharmacies to reuse prescription bottles because the continuous use of these bottles may make them less child resistant, unless the bottles are glass, then your pharmacist may be able to reuse your bottles. Sorry! I work in a pharmacy and see the waste, but between the law and patient's privacy we can't reuse your old bottle. Report Spam or Abuse Why use these bottles in the first place? Post By Rocky (Guest Post) (03/12/2008) If these bottles can't be recycled, then why does every pharmacy in America use them? How about we call upon Congress to BAN them and use a plastic that is recyclable? It has always irked me that I have to throw out so many prescription bottles each year. Multiply that by the hundreds of millions of bottles out there then you're probably talking a WHOLE LOT of landfill space. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Paul (Guest Post) (01/19/2008) I just called my local Rite Aid and they do accept used medicine bottles. They said they have them shredded, so it sounds like they don't reuse them; they may or may not recycle them. Neither my local Walgreens or CVS accepted used prescription bottles. Also, I asked Rite Aid what I should do with old/expired medication. I was told to put them in the garbage disposal and run them. Some quick research on the internet suggests disposing them in the trash may be better, but to not make it easy for children to find and potentially consume. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By (Guest Post) (12/29/2007) If there was a location at your pharmacy to drop prescription bottles for reusing, would this be something you would do? I too have been thinking about the waste of not doing something with these bottles. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Winerep (Guest Post) (12/20/2007) It's tough, I recycle everything I can. Now, the orange bottles are #5 so they aren't easily recycled. Remember it is easier to re-use before you recycle. I've been putting my loose change into them. Basically I encourage everyone to find creative ways to re-use the bottles. Otherwise they will go into the trash and add to our pollution problem. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By pharmacist (Guest Post) (12/13/2007) The law here is that we can reuse your prescription bottles and place your new medicines in them, however the cap MUST be replaced as the threading may not allow it to remain childproof. Check with your pharmacist in your state. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Joe (Guest Post) (11/05/2007) Check out what this guy does: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/wrap/CaseStudies/Retail/OwensPharm.htm Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By rebkeat (Guest Post) (10/24/2007) I take mine to my vet. Just remove the labels first. Report Spam or Abuse Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Jacqueline T.. (Guest Post) (10/21/2007) I am so glad to see other people feel the same as I do about the recycle of presription bottles. I had wondered for years what could be done with used prescription bottles. They can also be used for hand cream, shampoo, cream rinse and other traveling items for traveling. Report Spam or Abuse Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Kelsey (Guest Post) (04/08/2007) Why doesn't the local pharmacies just take the last perscription bottle you used and reuse it?!! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By A Pragmatist (Guest Post) (04/17/2006) I aplaud all your efforts here at trying to find a use for these, but in all honesty, these bottles can't cost more than a couple cents each. If third world countries need medicine bottles wouldn't it make sense to contribute a little money and let them buy them by the thousands direct from the manufacturer? It couldn't cost much and would be much much cheaper than sending multiple shipments of used ones and would also save the cost of cleaning them. I mean no disrespect to all the good intentions here, just thinking there's probably a much easier and more effective way to solve this problem. Also, if they are simply recycled with all your other plastics, they will end up being re-used, just not in their current form. Just my opinion. Editor's Note: Unfortunately, most places will not take presciptions bottles "Why can't prescription or vitamin bottles be recycled? A. Prescription and vitamin bottles go through a different manufacturing process and, as a result, do not have the same melting temperature as other plastic bottles. (You'll notice they are much, much harder than other narrow-necked bottles.) They have a different consistency at the same temperature (sometimes thinking of "soup" versus "pudding" is helpful), making them incompatible in a re-manufacturing process. It's the same reason plastic bottle tops can't be recycled, no matter their number." from http://www.ecocycle.org/faq/containers.cfm Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Hope Armond (Guest Post) (01/19/2006) How do I send my used perscription bottles to someone who can recycle them?? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Melanie (Guest Post) (11/14/2005) Our curbside recycling takes them. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Charlene Clark (Guest Post) (11/14/2005) Need the address in Haiti to send the prescription bottles Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Marleen (Guest Post) (09/10/2005) I would like to know if there might be a place to send empty presicription bottles too so they can be recycled? I would also like to know if anyone knows of a company that recycles them back to the pharmacy? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Sandy n Wichita, Ks (Guest Post) (02/07/2005) Becki in Indiana - Can you give more info regarding where in Haiti these bottles can be sent? Our church community center could send scads of them. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By GrannyZ (Guest Post) (01/30/2005) I use acrylic paint for many small projects. Often I have to mix colors. These medicine bottles are perfect for storing the mixes while I am working with my project. The bottles can be reused for other colors if you wash them out when done. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post by ThriftyFun (3739) | (01/24/2005) Profile | Blog! | Contact (sent in by email) Thanks a million for all of the suggestions about how to recycle the prescription bottles. Now I have a place to start. Such a shame that they can't be re-used. Sometimes the new things just arent as good as in the good old days when you could take the bottle in for a refill. Thanks again J. Coe Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Becki in Indiana (Guest Post) (01/24/2005) Ask at all your local pharmacies -- one here in town finally remembered that a local church has a mission in Haiti, and they collect used prescription bottles to send there. In Haiti, the clinic has medications in enormous bottles, and they need smaller bottles to "dispense" into when they send the medicines home with a patient. I now save all my bottles for this church -- removing all of the identifying stickers first, of course. Here are a few other ways I use prescription bottles: In my purse with coins in it for toolbooths. (One in my car, too). In my purse, well-washed and well-dried, holding loose antacids. In my purse, well-washed and dried, it's a sewing kit containing a couple of threaded needles, a couple buttons, and some safety pins. In a lunchbox, it can be used for condiments, toppings such as croutons, etc. I throw a few dried beans, pebbles, anything that makes noise into a tightly capped prescription bottle, and my kitties love to chase it around! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Rosa (Guest Post) (01/21/2005) Wash them out and let dry very good, use them to store your flower seeds in, they make wonderful seed holders .Just put a small lable inside with the date and kind of seed. They store very well in the fridge ( if they have to be kept cold ), Or in a tupperware or cardboard box. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Rosa (Guest Post) (01/21/2005) I like to "melt " them, put them on an aluminum throw away pan, or a piece of foil. after they " melt " they make great jewlery, just drill a small hole in them, to put on a rope chain, or earrings. and they are very hard , and will not break or crack. can also be used for " checker pieces " ect. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Anna from Maine (Guest Post) (01/21/2005) I recently read that the local vet and animal shelters will reuse them. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By (Guest Post) (01/21/2005) maybe you can give them to a childrens day care center. they always have small crafts to do .can be made into little bird houses whatever Report Spam or Abuse RE: Places to Recycle Prescription Bottles Post By Sandi Wideman (Guest Post) (01/21/2005) Don't know if you're in the US or in Canada. I asked our pharmasist here in Canada once why they can't reuse them. He replied that they're not allowed to as they'd have to sanitize them and no place to do it. Shame tho.. Report Spam or Abuse