CVS is switching to aluminum pill bottles

CVS is changing Refill your over-the-counter pill bottles and switch them Plastic For aluminium.

For decades, pills typically came packaged in hard plastic containers. Although it is technically recyclable, it tends to be accepted in fewer places than on a larger scale Recyclable aluminum.

The retail pharmacy chain will soon begin selling CVS-branded generic versions of some allergy and pain relief medications packaged in aluminum bottles.

“For over-the-counter medications, aluminum packaging offers many practical and sustainable benefits,” Mike Weir, vice president of store brands at CVS, wrote in an email to WIRED. “Like traditional packaging options, aluminum provides a strong barrier to help maintain stability and shelf life.”

The first aluminum offerings start with CVS’s bulk versions of allergy medications and general pain relief products. These are the larger containers of brand-name versions of medications that contain the same active ingredients as Allegra, Benadryl, Claritin, Zyrtec, Tylenol, and Advil. The new bottles are lighter than the plastic versions, but CVS did not respond to WIRED’s question about exactly how much they weigh. The grains inside will remain as they are, even if they may make more noise now. CVS also says it is not increasing bottle prices after the switch in materials.

Aluminum bottles will already be more recyclable, but Ware says people will still need to do the same things to properly recycle their aluminum bottles as plastic bottles, such as removing the label and cap. (The caps on aluminum bottles are the same as the caps on plastic bottles, and they are not placed in the same bin as the bottom of the bottle.)

Recyclability seems like an added bonus for CVS rather than the main goal of the retailer’s move to aluminum. Change comes as part of Brand refresh For CVS, just over a year after downsizing the company Closing 270 shops All over the United States. In online statements, CVS says it is redesigning its brand to make medications easier to find. This is also likely a move to help counter the perception people get when walking into CVS and finding almost everything in the store closed Trying to prevent shoplifting.

Currently, aluminum bottles are only available for select medications without a prescription. CVS says it’s waiting to see how its customers respond before expanding aluminum bottles to include more medications or using them for prescription orders.