6m Ozempic pens could end up in landfill yearly

In December last year, a report claimed that 500,000 people in the UK take GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for waste loss.  

This figure is steadily rising as demand for the drug increases.  

Waste company BusinessWaste.co.uk predicted that this could result in six million Ozempic pens heading to landfill or incineration every year.  

This is the equivalent to 96 tonnes of plastic – the same as nine million empty plastic water bottles.  

Additionally, the pens contain needles which are classed as hazardous waste and should be discarded of appropriately in “sharps bins”.  

It is illegal to dispose of sharps in household waste and is a breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. 

However online forums show that many people who take the drug do not know how to dispose of them properly – with users on Reddit saying they throw the pen into the bin after use. 

Mark Hall, clinical waste expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, said: “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.  

“There needs to be an increase in education, as many people are simply unaware of the dangers posed by sharps waste. Alongside this, with the rapid rise, it seems the toll of the plastic used has been largely forgotten. 

“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.” 

Current options for disposing of Ozempic pens 

Some pharmacies and GPs surgeries have sharps bins which usually require the needles to be removed from the plastic pens.  

Unfortunately, the leftover pens cannot be recycled in household recycling as they contain hard plastic.  

Some local councils also provide sharps bins collections – but this is not consistent across the UK.  

One drug 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.  

The needle must be removed and placed in a sharps bin before the plastic pen is disposed of.