How to Recycle Blister Packs in Australia

If you have ever popped the last paracetamol out of a foil and plastic blister, hovered over the yellow bin, then quietly dropped it in anyway, you are not alone. Empty pill packets are one of the most common items we hear about at BRAD HQ, and the question is almost always the same: are blister packs recyclable in Australia, and if so, how? The short answer is yes, but not in your kerbside bin. The easiest fix is to post them to BRAD, the Banish Recycling and Diversion program, along with the rest of your hard-to-recycle waste, and there is a free pharmacy drop-off network as a backup. Here is the practical, no-faff 2026 guide to both.

Why blister packs cannot go in the yellow bin

A blister pack is a deceptively complex little thing. Each pocket combines a thin layer of PVC or PET plastic on the underside with a sheet of aluminium foil on the top, fused together at high heat. Standard kerbside recycling facilities (called MRFs, or Material Recovery Facilities) are built to sort big, clean, single-material items, like a glass bottle or an aluminium can. They cannot peel a bonded plastic and foil pack apart, so mixed composites the size of your palm slip through the sorting screens, get rejected by optical sorters, or contaminate the bales that do make it through. Even when blister packs go into the yellow bin with the best intentions, they almost always end up in landfill.

As far as we are aware, no Australian council accepts blister packs in the yellow kerbside bin. The cardboard box your medication comes in is a different story: that is plain cardboard and belongs in your kerbside recycling as normal. The blister itself needs purpose-built collection, and Australia now has two reliable streams: BRAD by Banish, and the Pharmacycle pharmacy network.

The easiest option: post them with BRAD

If you would rather deal with all of your hard-to-recycle waste in one go, or you are regional, time-poor, or staring at a year's worth of empty packets in a drawer, BRAD is built for you. BRAD is one of Australia's largest recycling programs for hard-to-recycle household items, and blister packs are a flagship item on the accepted list alongside more than 70 others, including toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, cosmetics, pens, bread tags and metal coffee pods.

It works in three steps:

• Order: grab a BRAD pre-paid label, which covers postage and the full cost of recycling. Check the product page for current pricing and sizes.
• Fill: pack your clean, dry, empty blister packs loose in the box, along with any other items from the accepted list.
• Post: drop it at any Australia Post location, anywhere in Australia. Prefer to hand things over in person? You can also drop in at the Banish Sustainability Hub in Sydney.

Everything is sorted at the Banish warehouse in Sydney, then sent to specialist Australian recyclers. Nothing is shipped offshore, and many materials come back to life through the Made by BRAD product range.

How to prepare blister packs for BRAD

1. Make sure every pocket is empty. Packs still holding tablets, capsules or liquid residue are treated as contamination. Return unused or expired medication to a pharmacy through the RUM program, because medication does not go in any recycling bin.
2. You do not need to wash the packs or separate the foil from the plastic. That is the specialist recycler's job. Just check there are no loose tablets caught at the back of the pack, and keep everything dry.
3. Put the cardboard packaging and paper leaflets in your kerbside recycling instead. They do not belong in a blister pack stream.
4. Collect packs in a jar, tub or zip-lock bag until you have a decent stash, then fill your BRAD box properly so your postage label works hard for you.

The free alternative: Pharmacycle drop-off at a pharmacy

Pharmacycle is Australia's largest blister pack recycling program, and it describes itself as the country's first end to end recycling program for medicinal blister pack waste. In 2026, branded Pharmacycle bins sit near the dispensary at every Chemist Warehouse store in Australia, alongside more than 900 collection points in independent pharmacies, and the program is expanding into Amcal and Discount Drug Stores. Since July 2022, it has recycled over 120 million blister packs and counting.

Here is how to use it:

• Empty the blister pack completely. No tablets, capsules or liquid residue.
• You do not need to separate the foil from the plastic. Pharmacycle's process handles both layers.
• Drop the packs into the Pharmacycle bin near the dispensary at your nearest Chemist Warehouse or participating pharmacy. Use the Pharmacycle store locator to find your closest drop-off.

Dropping off at a participating pharmacy is completely free, and once collected, the packs are sorted, contamination is removed, and the plastic and aluminium are separated and recovered in Australia. If a Chemist Warehouse is on your way home and blister packs are your only tricky item, use it. BRAD earns its keep when you are dealing with the whole drawer of awkward stuff at once.

What about asthma puffers, eye-drop vials and medication bottles?

Blister packs are one slice of medication packaging, but they are not the only one. A quick steer on the rest:

• Asthma puffers (inhalers). These contain pressurised propellants and cannot go in kerbside or BRAD. Return them to your pharmacy through the Pharmaceutical Society inhaler recovery program or check with your pharmacist.
• Eye-drop vials and bottles. Too small for kerbside, because they fall through MRF screens, and they are not on the BRAD accepted list at the moment. Do check the current BRAD accepted items list before you pack any small medical plastic, as we update it regularly.
• Glass medication bottles. Rinse and put in the yellow bin once empty, with the lid off. Small medication lids can go in your BRAD box.
• Cardboard medication boxes. Straight in the yellow paper and cardboard recycling.

Frequently asked questions

Are blister packs recyclable in Australia?

Yes, but not through your kerbside yellow bin. Blister packs combine plastic and foil in a way that standard recycling facilities cannot process, so anything in the yellow bin will almost certainly end up in landfill. They are recyclable through BRAD by post, or through the Pharmacycle program at Chemist Warehouse and participating pharmacies.

Does BRAD accept blister packs?

Yes. Blister packs are one of BRAD's flagship accepted items. Send them in by post with a BRAD pre-paid label, or drop in at the Banish Sustainability Hub in Sydney. You can double check the current accepted items list on the BRAD program page.

Do I need to separate the foil from the plastic on a blister pack?

No. Both BRAD and Pharmacycle accept blister packs intact. Just make sure they are completely empty before posting or dropping off.

What about vitamin and supplement blister packs?

Pharmacycle describes its program as being for medicinal blister packs, so check with your local collection point before adding vitamin packs to the pile. For BRAD, check the current accepted items list, and when in doubt, ask before you post.

Related reading

• How to recycle coffee pods in Australia
• How to recycle makeup and cosmetics packaging in Australia
• The plastics breakdown: what you can and can't recycle
• What is BRAD? The full list of accepted items

Keep in the loop

Recycling programs in Australia change often, and we keep guides like this one updated as they do. For new guides, BRAD updates and practical low-waste tips, sign up to the Banish newsletter at the bottom of this page. Your medicine drawer will never confuse you again.