Known as blister packs, these packs which are mixture of foil and plastic and are loved by the pharmaceutical industry for ensuring the safety of their medicine. However, they are not loved by us as they’re not recyclable.

I’m sure many of you are thinking the opposite “it’s plastic and foil, surely they’re recyclable?”. The first problem with these packs are the sealant issue, the plastic and foil is firmly bonded which makes it a nightmare to separate for recycling companies.

The next problem is the plastic used. It’s difficult to identify what type of plastic is being used as there’s no identification (most of the time). Some manufacturers use PET (plastic recycling code 1), PVC (plastic recycling code 3), or a mix a plastic (plastic recycling code 7) also known as ‘OTHER’.

On the other hand, your medicine bottles are slightly easier to recycle. The plastic bottles usually have the code at the bottom of the bottle. The orange and brown bottles are normally PP plastic (plastic recycling code 5). Whereas the clear bottles are normally HDPE plastic (plastic recycling code 2).

Life would be a lot greener if companies considered the environment before thinking of financial gain. Therefore, support those companies who do make an effort to ensure their packaging is as environmentally friendly as possible.