Cabinet Health, the makers of the world’s first refillable and compostable medicine system, is launching its first-ever nationwide pill bottle recycling program to address the pharmaceutical plastic waste crisis. Through the program, anyone in the U.S. will be able to request a recycling bag from Cabinet Health, ship back their old, empty plastic pill bottles–with all personal information removed–for free to Cabinet, where the bottles will then either be recycled responsibly, or upcycled into an evolving art sculpture by interdisciplinary artist Kellie Gillespie. To participate, anyone from across the U.S. can visit https://cabinethealth.com/products/recycling and receive a recycling bag with a prepaid shipping label.
An estimated 165 billion plastic pill bottles enter our oceans, waterways, and landfills every year, while only an estimated 5% of plastic waste generated annually in the U.S. actually gets recycled. The amber pharmacy pill bottles, which make up a majority of all plastic pill bottles in the U.S., are generally not accepted by curbside recycling programs at all, contributing the same amount of waste roughly equivalent to filling over 3,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
“Pharmaceutical plastic waste remains an environmental issue, and Cabinet Health is committed to not only raising awareness but to providing tangible solutions to address it. And this extends beyond our environment to human health, as we’re eliminating the eventual consumption of microplastics from our bodies,” said Russell Gong, Co-Founder and President of Cabinet Health. “We are proud to partner with sculptural artist and mental health activist Kellie Gillespie to support her next piece of artwork that will live on well beyond the norm of a single-use plastic bottle.”
All plastic pill bottles received through the program will be incorporated within Kellie Gillespie’s next piece of artwork. With the program and respective art piece to follow, Cabinet Health’s national recycling program enables Kellie to transform America’s pill bottle waste into an extraordinary art installation made entirely of repurposed items commonly discarded by society. Cabinet Health hopes this initiative will help to further amplify and raise awareness around the growing plastic waste crisis and provides accessible opportunities for individuals to reduce their plastic waste, while learning about more sustainable solutions in healthcare.