[Pharmwaste] weight of packaging vs weight of pills at collection events

Wed Jun 1 20:31:45 EDT 2011

Just be get my facts on into this conversation.

Hi Marti:

Our data,  based on samples completed in 2009 for the San Francisco Bay
Area.

Our sample was 1,418lbs  which was  2.35% of the total collected in 2009.
I can send you the full report if you would like.

By weight:   15% packaging     85% pharmaceuticals  (all types)

By volume:  52% packaging   48 % pharmaceuticals  (all types)

I have a break down by types as well, but I'm not sure that helps.

Joel

Dr. Joel Kreisberg, DC, MA
Executive Director
Teleosis Institute
www.teleosis.org
drkreisberg at teleosis.org
510-558-7285
- Show quoted text -

On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Lucy, Burke <Burke.Lucy at calrecycle.ca.gov>wrote:

>  We struggled with measuring packaging for our Report to the California
> Legislature<http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/General/2011008.pdf>but decided not to because of the limited estimates at the time – so thank
> you Jennifer for sharing your findings. Dr’s Kreisberg & Ruhoy’s very nice
> Oct. 2010 report, “*Bay Area Medication Disposal Study 2009, An Inventory
> of Household Pharmaceutical Waste*” estimated packaging based on volume.
> So based on the three weight-based estimates below, the average amount of
> packaging by weight would be about *41%* although compared to the fourth
> estimate below, it may be a little higher.
>
>
>
> Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Program Management Decision Memo. *Facilitating
> safe and efficient collection and management of waste pharmaceuticals
> generated from households*. Sept. 9, 2010.  Pg. 5
>
> “The ratio of pharmaceutical weight to packaging weight for the
> non-hazardous non-controlled substance pharmaceuticals was approximately
> 1.7:1 (158 pounds to 94 pounds).  Hazardous waste pharmaceuticals would
> likely demonstrate a similar pharmaceutical weight to packaging weight
> ratio.”
>
> *37% packaging *
>
>
>
> Grasso, Cheri, et al., (2009) Secure Medicine Return in Washington State,
> The PH:ARM Pilot. Available:
> http://www.takebackyourmeds.org/pdf-files/pharm-final-report. pg 45.
>
> “Packaging containers, estimated at 28 percent of the total weight of
> medicines collected…”
>
> *28% packaging*
>
>
>
> Health Canada, "Pharmaceutical Disposal Programs for the Public: A Canadian
> Perspective", Nov 6, 2009. Annex 6: International Programs. Available:
> http://www.productstewardship.us/associations/6596/files/Takeback%20%282%29.pdf.
> Pg. 70.
>
>  “France Cyclamed Program … Diversion rate:
>
> o Pharmaceuticals and packages 0.21 kg / capita in 2006.
>
> o Pharmaceutical substances alone 0.09 kg / capita in 2006.”
>
> *57% packaging*
>
>
>
> Tim Grayling, Prepared for World Health Organization, ―Guidelines for Safe
> Disposal of
>
> Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies‖ 1999. Available at:
>
> http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/medicalwaste/pharmaceuticals/en/.
> pg 2
>
> “The gross weights mentioned previously include packaging. Actual
> pharmaceutical contents may be half, or less than half, of the gross
> weight.”
>
> *≥**50% packaging*
>
>
>
> Mr. Burke Lucy
>
> Integrated Waste Management Specialist
>
> Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
>
> 1001 I Street, PO Box 4025
>
> Sacramento, CA 95812
>
> Burke.Lucy at CalRecycle.ca.gov
>
> 916.341.6592
>
>
>
> *From:* pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [mailto:
> pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] *On Behalf Of *Volkman, Jennifer
> (MPCA)
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 01, 2011 3:04 PM
>
> *To:* pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> *Subject:* RE: [Pharmwaste] weight of packaging vs weight of pills at
> collection events
>
>
>
> Pages 4 and 5 of this document have the results of the sort we did at one
> of the county collection sites. They had 5, 55 gallon drums collected over a
> 3 month period that we dumped out and took apart. There were some things,
> like powder and aerosol inhalers, that we didn’t take apart because of
> exposure concerns. We estimated the amounts of liquids and gels/creams vs.
> packaging weight based on eyeballing the remaining contents and subtracting
> that from the total weight instead of dumping or squeezing them out. I think
> it was done well enough to give a good idea of percentages of packaging vs.
> pills/liquids/gels.
>
>
>
> *From:* pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [mailto:
> pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] *On Behalf Of *Matthew C.
> Mireles
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 31, 2011 2:31 PM
> *To:* Marti Martz; pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> *Cc:* djlefeber at comofcom.com; Elizabeth A. Smith PhD; Cheenu
> *Subject:* Re: [Pharmwaste] weight of packaging vs weight of pills at
> collection events
>
>
>
> Marti,
>
>
>
> Solid medicines are administered orally as powders, pills, cachets,
> capsules or tablets.  These are technical classification of the form in
> which medicine is produced and marketed. Tablets and capsules currently
> account for more than 2/3 of total number and cost of solid medicines
> produced globally. Tablet is defined as a compressed solid dosage form
> containing medicaments with or without diluents. It's easier to mass
> produce, package and distribute tablets and capsules.  Many peoplegroup
> them boardly into "pills".  When we refer to "pills" in the National Unused
> and Expired Medicines Registry, we include tablets, capsules and pills.
> From various sampling, we don't get much powders or pills, except products
> categorized as CAM: alternative and complementary medicines (herbals, teas,
> extracts, etc.).  Yes, people are returning supplements and CAM along with
> their unwanted meds and some illicit "recreational" drugs.
>
>
>
> Tablets come in various shape, size and weight, depending on the actual
> amount of medicinal substances and the intended mode of
> administration. Tablet is the most popular dosage form and accounts for
> about 70% of the total solid medicines dispensed in US and abroad.
>
>
>
> For our data analysis, we followed the consensus of the MBSG steering
> committee to collect at minimum 5 essential variables (name of drug,
> strength, quantity returned, reason for return, zip code).  For reliability,
> only the *quantity return* for solid medicines (pills, tablets and
> capsules) was selected for quantitative analysis.  We estimate the
> proportion of wasted medicine by the quantity and extrapolated standard
> packsize (what we expect the original quantity of medicine should be on an
> average based on drug name and strength; reference Red Book).  We performed
> a small closed population study to compare our "guessing" with the actual
> prescription quantity on the label.  The correlation was 0.96.  We continue
> to study our extrapolation method to further validate our protocol.
>
>
>
> As you can see, we don't particularly get involved with weight of medicine
> so much as others who directly deal with collection, handling, disposal and
> destruction of the drugs.  Weight or volume are used to price the cost of
> shipment and incineration. However, we have been asked occasionally to give
> an estimate of the collected medicines in the Registry.  For this, we use a
> standard weight reference from an international health group that declared
> *300mg *as the "average" weight of a "pill", based on the common aspirin.
> Subtracting this calculated total weight for "pills" from the total weight
> of the entire sample of packages with the pills would provide a crude weight
> for packaging materials.  To answer your answer regarding a "consensus", the
> answer is "no".
>
>
>
> A good contact for this discussion is the Green Pharmacy folks in CA.  I
> just reviewed a paper by Joel Kreisberg and Ilene Ruhoy that describes a
> pilot drug collection program in the Bay Area, 2009-2010.  They did an
> outstanding job characterizing each returned medicine (solid, liquids, gels,
> etc.).  The data collection was robust to include actual prescribed quantity
> (number of pills) and the type of materials (glass, foil, paper, plastic)
> and estimated proportion of packaging materials.  We only reviewed the final
> draft.  I'm not sure if this paper with final corrections is publicly
> available.  Please contact Dr. Joel Kreisberg for more info,
> drkreisberg at teleosis.org
>
>
>
> I'm sorry for the long answer to your short question.  Have you registered
> your unwanted meds collection events/program in the National Directory of
> Drug Take-Back Programs?  We are releasing our Second Edition of the
> National Directory with more than 400 registered events and programs around
> the country.  This Directory will go to the city and county health and waste
> management departments.
>
>
>
> Matthew Mireles
>
> * ***
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marti Martz
> Sent: May 31, 2011 11:18 AM
> To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] weight of packaging vs weight of pills at collection
> events
>
> Hello All,
> I am involved in unwanted meds collection events around the Great Lakes
> through a GLRI funded project titled "Undo the Great Lakes Chemical Brew:
> Proper PPCP Disposal." At some of these events it is possible to separate
> packaging from pills, at others it is not. I'm looking for a general
> consensus on weight of pills vs. weight of packaging. Does such a formula
> exist?
> Marti Martz
>
>
> On 5/27/2011 10:32 AM, Tenace, Laurie wrote:
>
> Anyone in CA want to discuss this? What will the display materials say?
> San Francisco To Launch Waste Medications Take Back Scheme
>
> On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved proceeding with
> a trial program for the collection of expired and unwanted prescription
> drugs. The pilot takes effect on December 1 of this year.
>
> Under the plan, pharmacies will be required to post "display materials"
> about the safe disposal of unused prescription drugs by the aforementioned
> date. Pharmacies not complying with the require would first receive a
> warning then be subject to a fine.
>
> The plan was approved by the San Francisco Small Business Commission and is
> receiving funding by the pharmaceutical industry. Recently enacted
> California SB 966, tasks CalRecycle with developing criteria and program
> models for collecting and disposing of waste pharmaceuticals statewide.
>
> For more information visit
> http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/bag052411_110025.pdf.
>
>
>
>
> Laurie
>
>
>
>
>
> Laurie Tenace
>
> Environmental Specialist
>
> Waste Reduction Section
>
> Florida Department of Environmental Protection
>
> 2600 Blair Stone Rd., MS 4555
>
> Tallahassee FL 32399-2400
>
> P: 850.245.8759
>
> F: 850.245.8811
>
> Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
>
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a
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>
>
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> --
>
> ----------------------------
>
> Marti Martz
>
> Pennsylvania Sea Grant
>
> 301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 3
>
> Erie,Pa 16505
>
> mam60 at psu.edu
>
> Phone:814.217.9015
>
> fax 814.217.9021
>
> ----------------------------
>
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-- 
Dr. Joel Kreisberg, DC, MA
Executive Director
Teleosis Institute
www.teleosis.org
drkreisberg at teleosis.org
510-558-7285
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