Islanders have been sending their empty medication blister packs to the Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, in an attempt to raise awareness for special recycling facilities.
Many great recyclers
A large proportion of Isle of Wight residents do a great job of recycling, helping to make sure items that can be recycled, are recycled.
However, in this modern age there are still many types of packaging which cannot be recycled at home.
Soft plastics
Much of the soft plastic packaging that wraps fresh foods, crisps, biscuit packets etc that cannot be recycled at home, can now be returned to large supermarkets, shifting the responsibility back on them and hopefully, many feel, forcing them to reconsider how their foods are packaged.
Recycling blister packs
One item that is a problem to recycle on the Island is the medication blister pack.
On an Island where there is a larger than average older population, with many taking more than one type of medication daily, the amount of blister packs heading to landfill is substantial.
“They do untold damage to the environment”
One News OnTheWight reader has been sending their used blister packs to Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely.
They told us,
“Blister packs do untold damage to the environment, pollute our seas, and they last forever.
“In other parts of the country, a company called TerraCycle offer a free recycling programme, which is funded by brands, manufacturers and retailers around the world. This recycling is only available to pharmacies and medical centres, but there are none on the Island that use this facility.”
The reader said that blister packs have been sent to Bob Seely’s office in an effort to encourage him to do something about providing somewhere to recycle empty blister packs which, up to now, haven’t been recyclable.
“Writing and asking nicely doesn’t seem to make any difference”
They added,
“Sending these packages to Bob Seely is direct action, it would be great if more people joined in with this and, hopefully, it would make him pay attention to this problem, and do something about it.
“Just writing and asking nicely doesn’t seem to make any difference.
“Any of your readers wishing to do the same, should send their unwanted blister pack to The Office of Bob Seely, Northwood House, Ward Avenue, Cowes PO31 8AZ.
Image: volodymyr hryshchenko under CC BY 2.0
