On May 2020, The Environmental Department (EPD) of Hong Kong has published a guideline with procedures on disposing of unserviceable or expired medicines for licensed pharmaceutical traders.
The pharmaceutical traders shall submit their application on EPD’s website as a Chemical Waste Producer upon which a certificate with a waste producer(WP) number will be issued.
Among the medicines that are categorized as chemical waste includes, Part A comprising of poisons and antibiotic preparation and Part B comprising of poisons, “non-poison” pharmaceutical products.
The guideline which entails details on the application procedure instructs applicants for Part A to register through Form EPD132.
Applicants should contact chemical waste collectors listed on the EPD website with information on the category of chemical waste.
Liquid, solid and aerosol waste shall be separated by suitable containers obtained from chemical waste collectors and disposed of as per the guideline. Traders should contact the collectors for collection and a “trip ticket” should be retained for future collection.
The guideline applies to pharmaceutical traders who are licensed under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 134), the Antibiotics Ordinance (Cap. 137), and/or the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Cap. 138) (“licensed traders”) of the Laws of Hong Kong.
Applicants may refer to this guide for further information: https://www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/doc/guidelines_forms/drugdisposalguidance_eng.pdf.