Recently, the Caernarvon Township Police Department announced that it will join thirteen other police departments in the Berks County Pharmaceutical Drop Box Initiative Program. The Pharmaceutical Drop Box Initiative Program provides residents with an opportunity to safely and securely dispose of unused, unwanted, or expired medication.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) does not generally regulate the disposal of household wastes such as unused medication under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) even though the chemical make-up of medications might otherwise qualify it as a hazardous waste. According to EPA, traces of active pharmaceutical ingredients have been found in some groundwater and drinking water as a result of, at least in part, the improper disposal of unused, unwanted, or expired mediation.
For instance, medication flushed down a toilet may dissolve and be discharge directly to the groundwater through a septic system or not get completely treated by a wastewater treatment facility because of the complex nature of organic compounds in medication. EPA also explained that pharmaceutical ingredients have also been detected in leachate systems from municipal solid waste landfill as a result of household disposal in municipal trash collection.
Although unused medication may not be regulated under RCRA, there are other practical and compliance issues with medication disposal which can be addressed through a Pharmaceutical Take Back Program. EPA views incineration at regulated facilities as the preferred disposal method for medications. EPA cautions, however, that crematoria are not regulated under the Clean Air Act and should not be used to incinerate medication because they do not have environmental safeguards required to capture organic compounds from the medication that may be emitting during incineration. Therefore, there is not readily available and cost-effective public access to incineration facilities. A Pharmaceutical Take-Back Program, however, allows a local government to consolidate the medication and dispose of it at a regulated incineration facility.
In addition, the Controlled Substances Act and the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act generally prohibit transferring certain controlled medications to another person for disposal unless surrendered to law enforcement. Because the Berks County Pharmaceutical Take-Back Program is managed by local police departments, people can avoid a risk of inadvertent non-compliance with these laws.
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