Discreet but essential objects for
people with diabetes ,
insulin pens are equipment that help to dose the medication and facilitate
application to the body at any time and in any place . However, despite their practicality, they are
often discarded . Pens are
made up of 77% plastics , which, for public health reasons, cannot be disposed of in a traditional recycling bin. As a result, the most common destination for insulin pens at the end of their useful life is
incineration . A more modern alternative that returns the material for use in society has been developed by researchers in Denmark.
Rica Mello, leader of the disposables chamber and pioneer of the Plástico Amigo project, explained that the initiative is part of the “Circular for Zero” environmental strategy and, so far, has been developed in three other countries, namely Denmark, the United Kingdom and Brazil. “In Denmark, in two years the program has already collected 77 thousand pens, while 15 thousand have been recycled in the United Kingdom since the launch of the program, in November 2021. The projection is that 700 thousand will be recycled by the end of 2023”. In Denmark, the injections are processed and recycled by Zirq Solutions , which has created an industrial process to recycle up to 85% of the materials and reuse them in the manufacture of plastic chairs , each made from 120 used pens. By 2024, the Danish company aims to collect 5 million used pens each year in France.
