Partnership Will Enable Insulin Pen Recycling
Each year, an estimated annual amount of 3,9 million insulin pens are sold on the Danish market. After use, they enter the waste stream and become feedstock for production of electricity and heat in the Danish incineration plants. The insulin pens contain valuable resources, such as plastics, glass, and metals, which can be recycled into new raw materials of high quality with a big environmental benefit.
In order to make the transition towards a circular production and consumption system for medical devices, several partners - with Novo Nordisk as the prime mover - have established an innovation partnership. The first step will be to develop a recycling scheme for insulin pens.
Specifically, the partnership will launch a pilot project in Aarhus, Kolding and Copenhagen by 1. December 2020, which provide citizens, who use pens for the treatment of diabetes and severe obesity, with the opportunity to return their used disposable pens to Novo Nordisk via a take-back pilot scheme at the pharmacies in the three participating municipalities. The pilot project will run until June 2021, where it will be evaluated in order to decide next step.
Although, the initial focus of the partnership is on insulin pens, the long term vision is to create a comprehensive solution that can handle different types of medical waste. A user-friendly solution that makes it easy to think green.