It’s one more small gesture for the planet… Every year in France, 25 million insulin injector pens that leave the manufacturing lines of Novo Nordisk in Chartres end up in the trash after being used to treat diabetes. From now on, these products will know a second life.
The Danish giant, world number one in insulin, has just launched an experimental program to recover these pens in four regions of France, including the Center – Val-de-Loire. “It took two years of procedure to achieve this by using a derogatory device because the pens are considered as MNU (unused medicines) and must normally be incinerated”, explains the general manager of Novo Nordisk France Etienne Tichit.
This system makes it possible to recover 85% of the materials
The terms and conditions are intended to be simple and practical. The diabetic patient can go to the website returpen.fr and obtain a postage-paid envelope to send their pens, or bring them back to a pharmacy partner of the operation, that is to say about fifty for the moment.
Pens returned by post are stored in the Chartres factory, those collected by pharmacies are stored on a logistics platform near Orléans. They then take the road to Copenhagen.
Novo Nordisk works with a Danish service provider who debons and grinds the material. This system recovers 85% of the materials and saves 10.6g of C02 per pen. The plastic is used to make chairs, and the glass to make lamp globes, all stamped Danish design of course!
