Novo Nordisk partners to launch Australia’s first recycling initiative for injection pens

A coalition of healthcare leaders is moving to tackle one of the sector’s most persistent waste challenges, with Novo Nordisk signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch Australia’s first pilot recycling initiative for medical injection pens.

The agreement brings together Pharmacycle, TerryWhite Chemmart, Northern Sydney Local Health District (Royal North Shore Hospital) and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney in a coordinated effort to trial a national-first approach to recovering materials from used injection devices.

The pilot forms part of ReMed, Novo Nordisk’s global take-back and recycling program, and will test practical, scalable pathways to divert medical waste from landfill through a system-wide collection and processing model. The company is also a member of the Medicines Australia’s Medical Sustainability Group and the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA).

“With ReMed already active in seven countries, expanding the program to Australia is an important step in reducing the impact of medical waste. This work directly supports Novo Nordisk’s Circular for Zero ambition by turning our sustainability commitments into tangible action,” said Elin Jäger, Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff to CEO; Corporate Strategy & Sustainability at Novo Nordisk.

Set to launch in the second half of 2026, the pilot will enable patients using Novo Nordisk medicines delivered via disposable, pre-filled injection pens to return used devices at participating TerryWhite Chemmart pharmacy locations across Sydney for appropriate collection and processing.

“Pharmacies are often the most accessible healthcare touchpoint for patients managing chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity. Supporting this pilot allows us to play a role in testing how used injection pens can be safely returned and responsibly handled, while learning alongside our partners what a scalable solution might look like for the future,” said Michael Beaumont, General Manager, TerryWhite Chemmart.

The initiative will extend beyond community pharmacies, with both inpatients and outpatients at Royal North Shore Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney also able to return used pens at designated hospital collection points.

“We are grateful to be part of this pilot at Royal North Shore Hospital and excited to support a practical step toward reducing medical waste and advancing a more sustainable, circular approach to healthcare,” Paul Klarenaar, Director, Population & Planetary Health, Northern Sydney Local Health District.

The timing is significant. Australia is seeing a steady rise in metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, driving sustained demand for injectable therapies. Around 1.5 million Australians live with diabetes, many of whom depend on injectable treatments to manage their condition. This includes people with type 1 diabetes requiring daily insulin, as well as a growing cohort of people with type 2 diabetes using insulin or GLP-1 receptor agonists, often administered via injection pens as their primary treatment method.

Yet once used, these devices frequently end up in household rubbish and ultimately landfill. This challenge is becoming more acute as Sydney faces an impending waste crisis, with landfill capacity projected to be exhausted by 2030.

“We are proud to support this Australia-first initiative on product stewardship for an essential medical device as it demonstrates the collaboration and leadership needed to tackle the plastics and waste crisis we face in Australian health systems. We congratulate Novo Nordisk, a CAHA member, for their leadership on driving this exciting initiative and look forward to championing the roll out,” said Michelle Isles, CEO of CAHA.

The pilot will test the full lifecycle of a potential recycling pathway, including patient returns and safe collection at participating pharmacies, secure transport and handling, and sorting and recycling processes to recover materials where feasible. It will also generate operational insights to determine whether the model can be scaled nationally over time.

“Healthcare plays a critical role in improving lives, but it also generates complex waste streams that require specialised recycling solutions. This pilot will demonstrate how collaboration across manufacturers, pharmacies and hospitals can create practical and transparent pathways to recover materials from medical injection pens that would otherwise end up in landfill. We’re proud to be working with partners across the healthcare system to help bring this initiative to life,” said Michael Klapsogiannis, General Manager of Pharmacycle.

In reimagining healthcare across the entire patient journey, Health Industry Hub^TM is the only one-stop-hub uniting the diversity of the Pharma, MedTech, Diagnostics & Biotech sectors to inspire meaningful change.

The Health Industry Hub^TM content is copyright protected. Access is available under individual user licenses. Please click here to subscribe and visit T&Cs here.