Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much pharmaceutical blister-pack waste is generated in the UK each year; what proportion is recycled; and what proportion goes into general waste.

Defra does not hold UK-wide data on annual pharmaceutical blister-pack waste or the proportions recycled and disposed in general waste. Blister packs are not separately identified in national packaging waste statistics or other waste datasets. They are generally difficult to recycle through household collections because they contain mixed materials.