Household Medicine Residues and Our Responsibility to the Environment
The recent collapse of the Bantar Gebang landfill, which claimed lives, serves as a stark reminder to rethink our waste management practices. Towering piles of rubbish laden with waste clearly pose a risk of environmental contamination. Many of us may believe that pollution stems solely from industrialisation and single-use plastics.
However, another source of pollution often goes unnoticed: household medicine residues. Medicines discarded in bins, sinks, or drains directly introduce active pharmaceutical substances into the environment.
Unwittingly, this seemingly minor issue escalates into a major environmental concern. Easy access to health literacy and medicines has empowered the public to self-medicate. Consequently, households stockpile drugs for temporary needs. Data indicates that 79% of Indonesians opt for self-treatment for minor illnesses.
Every household likely keeps stocks of flu remedies, painkillers, vitamins, and supplements. This is not unique to Indonesia; studies show that nearly 77% of households in various countries store medicines at home. Often, a single household may have more than ten types of drugs.
Importantly, medicines are not ordinary waste. They contain active ingredients with specific pharmacological effects. If discarded like regular rubbish, these substances leach into soil and water. Not surprisingly, medicine residues have been detected in rivers and water bodies in many countries. Though concentrations are low, long-term exposure to pharmaceutical residues still endangers environmental health. One of the most commonly cited impacts is antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotics released into the environment can alter microorganisms, fostering increasingly resistant bacteria. These bacteria develop ways to neutralise or evade the drugs, rendering antibiotics ineffective. If unchecked, antibiotic resistance poses a global threat to treating various infectious diseases.
As primary users, families bear the responsibility for managing household medicines.
To prevent the accumulation of medicine waste, the following steps can be taken: 1. Routinely check medicine expiry dates. 2. Use antibiotics only as prescribed and avoid stockpiling them for personal use. 3. Before disposal, separate medicines from their original packaging. Crush tablets or capsules first, then mix with absorbent materials such as coffee grounds, soil, or other organic waste, and place in a sealed rubbish bag. Such simple methods can reduce misuse and prevent medicines from re-entering the environment. This information is crucial for dissemination through the DAGUSIBU programme, an educational concept by the Indonesian Pharmacists Association (IAI) on proper medicine management.
Several countries have implemented take-back programmes for expired medicines via pharmacies or health facilities, where unusable drugs are safely destroyed. Since 2019, Indonesia’s BPOM has launched the Ayo Buang Sampah Obat (ABSO) programme to manage family expired medicines at drop boxes in partner pharmacies, hospitals, or puskesmas.
Although the programme is not yet widely known, raising awareness for judicious medicine management is a positive first step. Ultimately, protecting the environment does not always require grand actions.
Properly managing household medicine residues is a shared responsibility. Discarding a single tablet may seem insignificant, but if millions of households do so, the impact is enormous. Start caring for the environment from small things, like how we handle household medicine remnants.