Green Technology

European Environment Agency hosted workshop on pharmaceuticals in the environment at Copenhagen meeting in January 2009 and the participating experts collaborated to develop a position on sustainability for the EU pharma industry. ...

... "Green pharmacy is the design of pharmaceutical products and processes that eliminate or reduce the use and generation of hazardous substances. Following these principles, pharmaceuticals can be generated with reduced impact on the environment during production or after use. The introduction of such processes and pharmaceuticals is currently not a high priority for the pharmaceutical industry but future generations of pharmaceuticals will probably leave fewer residues in the environment. Because producers, doctors, pharmacists and patients still know little about the environmental effects, fate and behaviour of pharmaceuticals, communication on these matters is crucial. The environmental issues can be introduced in already existing information schemes to increase awareness that, in addition to the desired health effects, certain pharmaceuticals may have significant environmental impacts. " ...

Via European Union: Pharmaceuticals in the environment (PDF)