[Pharmwaste] Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals donating one million drug deactivation pouches to support the fight against prescription drug abuse

[DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ)]

Virginia DEQ does not regulate what citizens put into the landfill, so the use of these pouches would be their choice.  As an added incentive, they are free.  It sounds like a reasonable idea for people to try, since dissolving and deactivating the drugs would remove the pharmaceuticals as a problem from the landfill leachate that goes to treatment plants.  I don't know what the pouches are made of, but have sent off for the free samples they allow you to have.  Whatever they are made of, they can't be worse than all the other stuff that people toss.

Our landfill inspectors occasionally come across addicts digging in a landfill looking for drugs.  They are probably on the alert not only for the amber colored vials that prescription drugs are sold in, but for baggies full of coffee grounds, since that has been the method recommended for disguising pills.   This pouch with the activated carbon, meds and added water would certainly deter that effort.

Deborah DeBiasi
804-698-4028
Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov

From: Pharmwaste [mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Scott Cassel
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 8:12 PM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals donating one million drug deactivation pouches to support the fight against prescription drug abuse

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mallinckrodt-donates-one-million-drug-deactivation-pouches-to-support-us-fight-against-prescription-drug-abuse-300286092.html

Thanks to Anne LeMere of Unity Hospice for sharing Mallinckrodt's press release, which states that: "The pouch-based systems that Mallinckrodt is donating deactivate prescription drugs and render chemical compounds safe for landfills. The pouches are also biodegradable, providing an environmentally responsible way to deactivate and dispose of drugs."

Can any government officials on this list verify that their agencies approve of these pouches being landfilled?

Before millions of these pouches end up in landfills, I would like to know whether government officials WANT them in their landfills and consider this a safe disposal method. Has anyone seen the company's data showing the criteria they use for landfill safety and biodegradability?

Thanks,
Scott

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Scott Cassel
Chief Executive Officer/Founder
Product Stewardship Institute, Inc.
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