PAGB is a member of AESGP, the association representing the self-care industry across Europe, which has brought its members together to address environmental issues for consumer healthcare, including microplastics and medicine disposal. We are closely involved in the ongoing work that they undertake and feed into the policy via the board and respective working groups at the EU level.
We also sit on the board of the Global Self Care Federation (GSCF), which is driving the issue at a global level via the Charter for Environmentally Sustainable Self-Care, which was developed together with industry associations and manufacturers in the consumer healthcare industry. Our shared goal is to minimise the impact of medicines on the environment while safeguarding access to effective treatments for consumers. Our team has fed into the global regulatory working groups involved in this work.
In line with the GSCF charter, we have made a series of commitments across the charter’s three priority areas. These include commitments to support our members with the implementation of the UK Plastic Packaging Tax, working to promote the importance of the pharmacy take-back scheme as the correct way to dispose of out-of-date or unused medicines in the UK, and working to reduce our own CO2 footprint. You can download our pledge here and read more about our 2023 update on our commitments below.
