T28 waste exemption: sorting and denaturing controlled drugs for disposal
The T28 exemption allows pharmacies and similar practitioners to denature controlled drugs, to comply with Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
Applies to England
T28 exemptions are free of charge
Call the Environment Agency on 03708 506506 to register your exemption.
Pharmacies and veterinary surgeries are required to sort and denature (‘treat’) controlled drugs before disposing of them. You need to register a T28 exemption to do this.
‘Controlled drug’ is specified in Schedules 1 to 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
Types of waste you can treat
Your waste must fit within the waste codes and descriptions.
| Waste code | Type of waste |
|---|---|
| 18 01 09 | Medicines from natal care, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease in humans |
| 18 02 08 | Medicines from research, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease involving animals |
| 20 01 32 | Medicines separately collected as municipal waste |
Amount of waste allowed
You can:
- store or treat up to 1 cubic metre of waste at any one time
- store waste for up to 6 months
Conditions
You must be an authorised person (for example, pharmacist) under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 to register a T28 exemption.
You cannot:
- treat waste drugs that are hazardous waste
- treat waste drugs if the waste was produced somewhere else
- store or treat more than the maximum amount allowed in this exemption
Storing other waste drugs under the non-waste framework directive (NWFD)
You can store returned or out-of-date medicines under the NWFD exemption for temporary storage at a collection point.
You do not have to register the NWFD exemption.
Register a T28 exemption
Call to register free of charge.
Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Updates to this page
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Updated to say that it is free to register a T28 waste exemption, and you must phone the Environment Agency to register.
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First published.