ArticleNPJ primary care respiratory medicine2023
Understanding the feasibility and environmental effectiveness of a pilot postal inhaler recovery and recycling scheme.
Article in NPJ primary care respiratory medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy and safety of different inhaler types for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. a systematic review and meta-analysis.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Managing Inhaler Environmental Sustainability and Effective Respiratory Care: Current Evidence, Challenges, and Opportunities.Pharmaceutical medicine · 2026Article
- Behaviour change intervention for inhaler disposal, Spain.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2026Article
- Recupera e Respira: A sustainable pilot model for disposal of inhalers.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2026Article
- Patient attitudes, beliefs, and practices in environmentally friendly inhaler disposal: a mixed-methods evaluation with behaviourally informed recommendations.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Article
- Understanding inhaler users' perceptions of climate change and inhaler carbon footprints: insights from a Canadian survey.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Article
- Climate change and respiratory health: implications for respiratory clinicians in primary and specialist care.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Review
- Environmental sustainability in healthcare: impacts of climate change, challenges and opportunities.Singapore medical journal · 2025Review
- Inhalable Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Inflammatory Lung Diseases.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Comparing the COBMJ open respiratory research · 2025Article
- Albuterol Reuse to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Pulmonary Function Testing.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2025Article
- Pharmaceutical, Clinical, and Regulatory Challenges of Reformulating Pressurized Metered-Dose Inhalers to Reduce Their Environmental Impact.Journal of aerosol medicine and pulmonary drug delivery · 2025Review
- Environmentally Responsible Inhaler Disposal in Hospitals: Is There Such a Thing?The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy · 2025Article
- Addressing environmental harms in the health sector: environmentality as a lens to expose (neglected) sites of knowledge/power.Humanities & social sciences communications · 2025Article
- How do patients determine when their inhaler is empty? Insights from an analysis of returned inhalers and a patient survey.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Article
- Use of metered dose inhalers for bronchodilator responsiveness testing: laboratory practices in Australia and opportunities for carbon footprint reduction.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Article
- Evaluating inhaler technique, patient preferences and opportunities for improvement in hospitals in the UK.Future healthcare journal · 2024Article
- Effective respiratory management of asthma and COPD and the environmental impacts of inhalers.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2023Article
- The evolving landscape of digital inhaler platforms and adherence support in chronic airways disease.Chronic respiratory diseaseReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
All inhalers have an environmental impact; the majority are not recycled, with many disposed of inappropriately through domestic waste. To assess the feasibility of a method for recovering and recycling inhalers, Chiesi Limited (Chiesi) set up and funded 'Take AIR (Action for Inhaler Recycling)', a 12-month pilot postal scheme facilitated by community pharmacies across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, and hospitals in Leicestershire. All inhalers were accepted in the scheme. The recovered pressurised metered-dose inhalers (pMDIs) were dismantled and component parts recycled where possible; the remaining propellant gas was extracted for reuse in refrigeration and air conditioning industries. Other inhaler types were incinerated in an 'energy-from-waste' facility. From February 2021 to February 2022, 20,049 inhalers were returned; most (77%) were pMDIs. So far, Take AIR has saved the equivalent of an estimated 119.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere. Our experience demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of a postal inhaler recovery and recycling scheme, which could be used as a foundation to build future initiatives.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.