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Clinical waste experts are warning that up to 6 million needle pens from GLP-1 weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro could be going to landfill every year due to a lack of awareness about the correct disposal methods.

Apart from the risk to bin collection workers from putting sharps in with general household waste, it is illegal to dispose of sharps in household waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If traced back to an individual, they could be fined or face a penalty, warns waste management company BusinessWaste.co.uk.

With as many as 500,000 people in the UK now taking GLP-1 weight loss drugs, up to 6 million pens could be going to landfill every year, equivalent to 96 tonnes of plastic – or 9 million empty plastic water bottles, it says.

BusinessWaste.co.uk is urging consumers to dispose of pens responsibly and encouraging the healthcare industry to help tackle the growing problem.

While some pharmacies will take full sharps bins for disposal, many people find it difficult to find those who’ll accept them, the company says.

“Local councils sometimes provide collections of sharps bins, but again, this isn’t consistent across the UK. Therefore, many people struggle to find a convenient and consistent way to dispose of their sharps waste.”

Another issue is that once the needle is placed into a sharps bin, users are still left with the plastic pen, which cannot go in household recycling. As a result, most are chucked into general waste bins, which means huge numbers end up in landfill.

One company, Novo Nordisk, does provide a takeback scheme for the plastic pens, allowing for them to be dropped off in Boots stores across the UK. Users must remove the needle first and dispose of it in a sharps bin before dropping off the plastic pen to be recycled. However, for those using other medications like Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, this is not an option.

As a result, there are two clear issues across the UK, says BusinessWaste.co.uk: the need to correctly dispose of injection pens in sharps bins, and the resulting mass of plastic pens heading to landfill.

The company’s Mark Hall comments: “The sudden rise in popularity of weight loss pens has led to many people dealing with sharps but without the knowledge of how to properly dispose of them.

“It’s vital that the healthcare industry, including the NHS, private providers, and drug makers, take responsibility to help users dispose of their sharps correctly. Work must be done to reduce the environmental impact of these pens.”