Pharmacy giant Boots is trialling a blister-pack recycling scheme.
The retailer has teamed up with waste management firm MyGroup to offer the service at 100 stores across the South East.
Boots loyalty card holders will be rewarded with 150 Advantage points if they deposit 15 empty packs and spend £10.
More than 30 million tonnes of blister packs for pills and vitamins are produced around the world each year, and many end up being landfilled or incinerated.
MyGroup will collect and process packs deposited at Boots collection points at its facility in Hull, which has a dedicated line to separate aluminium from plastic.
The plastic will be recovered through a PVC recycling process, while aluminium will be sent to a local refinery for remanufacture into ingots.
MyGroup holds permits to process unused medicines contaminating the waste stream and aims to achieve full recovery of all materials.
Director Steve Carrie said: “Thanks to our longstanding partnership with Boots and significant investment in our capabilities, we already have the relationships, expertise and reach in place to recover such a widespread waste item at scale as the scheme rolls out.”
