Salisbury Duo Launches Initiative to Recycle Blister Packs
Two Salisbury men are tackling the recycling issue of blister packs with a new collection scheme
Salisbury, UK, Blister Packs, Recycling, Piers Nicholson, Anthony Warley
Salisbury: Piers Nicholson, 90, and Anthony Warley, 70, are stepping up to tackle the recycling problem of blister packs. They noticed how many of these packs end up in landfills and decided to take action.
Blister packs are those plastic and aluminum packages you see for pills. They keep the medicine safe but can’t go in regular recycling bins. That’s because they’re made of materials that are tough to separate, leading to about 1.5 million of them being tossed away each year.
The main issue is that recycling them costs more than what you get back from the recycled materials. There are only a couple of companies that handle this, and they charge for collection boxes.
Superdrug used to have a collection program, but it ended in 2024. Piers didn’t want his packs to just sit in a landfill, so he and Anthony came up with a plan. They paid for a collection box and set up spots for people to drop off their packs, asking for a small donation to keep it going.
They send the collected packs to a specialized recycling company in Hull. Piers believes that while their effort might not change the world, it’s a start. He thinks waiting for the government to act won’t solve anything.
On January 10, they set up another collection outside a coffee shop and were thrilled to see the box fill up quickly. Anthony shared how they collected around six thousand packs that day, which was incredible.
They plan to do this again on March 10 and hope to expand their efforts to nearby towns. It’s a great example of how local folks can make a difference in tackling pollution and climate change.