Every year, there are more than 136 billion pounds of prescription drugs produced. In India, up to 43% of these drugs are never used and end up in landfills. This pharmaceutical waste has a negative impact on the environment and poses a significant health risk for those living near landfills.
The lack of regulations and oversights has caused the pharmaceutical industry to produce large quantities of hazardous materials which are eventually disposed in waterways, landfills or incinerators. Recently, scientists have been working on a machine that shreds hazardous materials such as plastic pharmaceutical containers and other various pieces of waste. The end result: less time and money spent on disposing toxic waste and a healthier planet for future generations.
A team of engineering from a local University have developed a shredder that can turn pharmaceutical waste into a powder. The team hopes to reduce the amount of hazardous pharmaceutical waste with the shredder. Pharmaceutical companies in our country produce more than 14 billion pounds of hazardous pharmaceutical waste every year. These types of wastes are often turned into liquids, gases, or solids but this takes up a large amount of space in landfills.
