Council Partners With Pharmacycle To Support New Recycling Initiative 

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

Council is proudly partnering with Pharmacycle, Australia's first and only end to end recycling program for household and commercial medicinal blister pack waste.

Due to their complex composition of plastic and aluminum, medicinal blister packs cannot be processed through regular kerbside recycling. This leads to hundreds of millions of blister packs being improperly disposed of annually, either ending up in landfill or as contaminants in recycling streams.

The initiative provides a sustainable solution to divert medicinal blister packs from landfill. The blister packs are collected from selected drop-off points and processed to break down the packs, separating the aluminium from the plastic, allowing each material to find a new purpose. 

Council joins several other local businesses and organisations also participating 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 the designated collection bins at these locations. Keep an eye out for the collection bins coming soon to Council's municipal offices at 59 Vincent St, Ararat.

“We’re expanding opportunities for our residents to minimise landfill,” says Ararat Rural City Council CEO, Dr Tim Harrison.

“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.”