Hay Fever Season Could Leave Behind 33.5m Medicine Packs

Warmer, drier weather can increase pollen levels, and many hay fever sufferers will reach for tablets, sprays, eye drops and wipes to manage symptoms.

Divert has analysed over-the-counter sales of allergy medicine and NHS prescription figures to estimate how many hay fever and allergy medicine packs may be used each year. The analysis suggests around 33.5 million allergy medicine packs could be used annually, with many tablet packs leaving behind blister sheets that are normally recyclable through household kerbside collections.

The medication itself matters for people who need it. The hidden waste problem is what happens to the packaging once the tablets are gone.

Key findings

Divert estimates that 33.46 million allergy medicine packs could be used each year in the UK and England combined, based on OTC sales modelling and NHS prescription data.

A lower estimate suggests 26.27 million packs could be used each year.
A higher estimate suggests the figure could reach 40.64 million packs.
Many hay fever tablets are sold in blister packs made from bonded plastic and foil.
Empty blister sheets should not usually go in household recycling bins.
Unused or expired medication should be returned to a pharmacy for safe disposal, not placed in the bin or flushed down the drain.

Why does hay fever season create a packaging waste problem?

Hay fever is seasonal, but the packaging waste can be substantial.
During heavy pollen periods, people often buy antihistamine tablets, nasal sprays, eye drops and other allergy remedies. Tablets and capsules are commonly packaged in blister sheets because the format protects each dose from moisture, air and contamination.
That protection is important. It helps keep medicines safe, stable and clearly separated. But the same packaging design also makes blister packs difficult to recycle.

Most blister sheets are made from a mix of plastic and aluminium foil. Once those materials are bonded together, they are hard to separate through standard household recycling systems. That means millions of empty blister sheets may end up in general waste unless they are taken to a specialist collection point.

How many allergy medicine packs could be used each year?

Divert modelled three scenarios using over-the-counter sales of allergy remedies and NHS prescription data.

The estimates were:

Low estimate: 26,279,392 combined packs
Mid estimate: 33,461,324 combined packs
High estimate: 40,643,256 combined packs

The mid estimate is based on 21,545,797 over-the-counter packs and 11,915,527 NHS prescription packs.

These figures should be treated as estimates of potential medicine pack use, not confirmed counts of packs thrown away. But they show the scale of packaging created by everyday allergy treatment.

Can you recycle blister packs?

Empty blister packs should not usually be placed in household recycling bins.

The cardboard box can normally be recycled at home, but the blister sheet should be removed first. The blister sheet is different because it is typically made from mixed materials, usually plastic and foil, which are not accepted through most kerbside recycling systems.

Some health and pharmacy retailers offer blister pack take-back schemes, but availability varies by store and location. Boots, for example, runs an in-store blister pack recycling scheme at participating stores, while Superdrug says medicine blister recycling is available through its pharmacy recycling programme. It is best to check local availability before making a trip. (Boots, Superdrug)

As a simple rule:

Recycle the cardboard box if it is clean and accepted locally.
Keep the blister sheet out of household recycling.
Use a specialist take-back scheme where available.
Put empty blister sheets in the general waste if no suitable scheme is available.

What should you do with empty blister packs?

The safest approach is to properly separate the packaging.

For empty hay fever tablet packs:

Remove the blister sheet from the cardboard box.
Recycle the cardboard box at home if your council accepts them.
Do not put the blister sheet in household recycling.
Check whether a nearby pharmacy or retailer offers a blister pack recycling scheme.
If no scheme is available, place the empty blister sheet in general waste.
This advice applies to many medicine blister packs, not only hay fever tablets.

What should you do with unused or expired medicine?

Unused or expired medicine should not be placed in household waste, recycling bins or toilets.

Community pharmacies in England provide an essential service for accepting unwanted medicines from patients, with NHS arrangements in place for waste contractors to collect them.

That means if you have leftover or expired hay fever tablets, oral solutions, nasal sprays or eye drops, the safest option is to return them to a pharmacy.

Do not flush medicine down the drain. Medicines can contaminate water systems and should be handled through the correct healthcare waste route.

What businesses should consider during hay fever season

This is mainly a household waste issue, but businesses can still play a part.

Workplaces, clinics, pharmacies, schools, universities, gyms and public venues may see more allergy medicine packaging during spring and summer. Most of this will be small, but small waste streams can still contaminate recycling if staff or visitors put blister sheets in the wrong bin.

Businesses can help by:

Keeping general waste bins available in staff rooms and washrooms.
Making recycling signage clear.
Avoiding vague “all packaging” recycling messages.
Reminding staff that blister sheets should not go in standard recycling bins.
Returning unused workplace medicines through the correct pharmacy or clinical waste route.
Reviewing waste streams where healthcare, pharmacy or wellbeing products are used regularly.

For pharmacies, clinics and health retailers, blister pack disposal is also a communication issue. People are more likely to recycle correctly when instructions are clear at the point they finish the product.

What needs to change with medicine packaging?

Blister packs are not used by accident. They protect medicines from moisture, air and contamination, and they help keep tablets separated and labelled.
That means a quick packaging swap is not always simple. Any change to medicine packaging must ensure patient safety, clarify dosage and control contamination. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry notes that pharmaceutical packaging changes must balance sustainability with medicine safety and regulatory requirements. (ABPI)
Still, there are clear areas for improvement.

Medicine packaging needs:

Clearer disposal instructions on boxes.
More visible guidance on whether blister sheets can be recycled.
Wider access to take-back schemes.
Better public education during peak hay fever season.
More investment in packaging designs that protect medicines while reducing waste.
People should not need to research packaging rules every time they finish a strip of tablets.

John Verity, clinical waste expert at Divert, comments:
“People shouldn’t feel guilty for using hay fever medication they need, but the packaging does need clearer disposal advice. Blister packs are made by bonding plastic and foil together, which means they usually can’t go in normal household recycling.

“The cardboard box can normally be recycled, but the blister sheet should stay out of the recycling bin unless there’s a specific take-back scheme. Clearer labelling and wider collection points would make a real difference during peak hay fever season.”

Final thoughts

Hay fever medication is essential for many people. The issue is not the medication itself, but the amount of hard-to-recycle packaging left behind during peak allergy season.

Empty cardboard boxes can usually be recycled. Empty blister sheets usually cannot go in household recycling. Unused or expired medicine should be returned to a pharmacy.

Divert helps households and businesses dispose of waste responsibly and keep recyclable materials out of the wrong bins. If your workplace, pharmacy, clinic or venue regularly deals with medicine packaging or healthcare-related waste, reviewing your waste setup can help reduce contamination and improve safe disposal.

Methodology
OTC hay fever remedy sales value for 2025 was taken from Statista, which reports sales in Great Britain.

As the OTC category covers wider hay fever remedies, not only tablets, the analysis modelled three scenarios where 40%, 60% and 80% of sales value was attributed to tablet or capsule products.

These values were divided by an average 30-tablet antihistamine pack price of £5.84, based on a basket of current own-brand and branded antihistamine products from major UK retailers.

NHS prescription data was analysed separately using NHSBSA data for tablet and capsule presentations of common antihistamines dispensed in England in 2025.

Liquid formats, including syrups, oral solutions and suspensions, were excluded from the NHS prescription calculation.

Total dispensed quantities were converted into estimated prescription packs using a standard 30-tablet pack size.

Figures should be treated as estimates of potential medicine pack use, not confirmed counts of packs binned. The OTC data covers Great Britain, while the NHS prescription figures cover England.

Data was collected on 18th May 2026 and is subject to change.