Ararat Rural City Council has backed a new initiative aimed at increasing recycling efforts across the municipality and reducing waste delivered to landfill.

The council will partner with Pharmacycle, Australia’s only end-to-end recycling program for household and commercial medicinal blister-pack waste.

Council chief executive Tim Harrison said the complex composition of plastic and aluminum meant medicinal blister packs could not be processed through regular kerbside recycling, leading to hundreds of millions of blister packs being improperly disposed of annually, either ending up in landfill or as contaminants in recycling streams.

Dr Harrison said the Pharmacycle initiative would provide a sustainable solution to divert medicinal blister packs from landfill.

Under the program, blister packs are collected from selected drop-off points and processed to separate aluminium from plastic, allowing each material to find a new purpose.

The council is among several other local businesses and organisations to participate in the initiative, including East Grampians Health Service, Priceline Pharmacy and Blooms The Chemist.

Residents can recycle empty blister packs by dropping them off at designated collection bins at those locations. Collection bins will soon be in place at the council’s municipal offices at 59 Vincent Street, Ararat.

“We’re expanding opportunities for our residents to minimise landfill,” Dr Harrison said.

“This blister pack recycling initiative provides a simple yet effective way for the community to contribute, ensuring a more sustainable future for Ararat Rural City.”

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