Our Climate Change Group is passionate about the actions that individuals can take, big or small, that helps to care for the planet. One of these actions is sharing stories and finding reliable sources of information that are balanced and easy to understand. Our Climate Change Group members will share stories and information that they find useful with the hope that you will find it useful too! Today's story, inspired by the War on Waste television series, shares what you can do with blister packs.

The War on Waste television series on ABC has highlighted the issue of plastics and what to do with them, once used.

Blister packs are one of those hard-to-recycle products as they are typically made of metal (aluminium) and plastic – so can’t easily be sorted at recycling collection points.

In Australia alone, hundreds of millions of blister packs end up in landfill each year.

Fortunately, there are recent moves to fix this situation. Pharmacycle, based in Sydney, is now shredding blister packs, grinding them, and separating the components for recycling. The high value of aluminium makes it worthwhile recycling.

National Pharmacies Chemist outlets in Adelaide are one of the drop-off points for used blister packs. They are experiencing huge demand for this free recycling service.

Other chemists are starting to become involved: they might need a nudge if they don’t have this in operation. If you can, have a chat with your chemist and tell them that you want to be able to recycle your used blister packs at their store.

If you want to chat about this topic, contact the COTA SA Climate Change Group via the reception desk on 08 8232 0422.