Recycling used insulin pens

[Martin62]

Hi All,
For any of you using the pre filled insulin pens from novo nordisk , they now have a recycling service , more info here www.pen-cycle.co.uk
I don't have a participating pharmacy near me, so ordered the free post boxes to send mine back in.
A little bit less for the landfill sites.
Martin

 

[rebrascora]

Whilst I am in favour of recycling, to my mind a better option is to get a reusable pen and just get cartridges prescribed to go in them. I am not convinced that posting and transporting plastic around the world is significantly better than them going to landfill and I am dubious as to how much reprocessing goes on when they are returned and how much is a marketing ploy.
I really don't understand why all Type 1s are not put straight onto reusable pens and that half unit pens are not standard issue although I appreciate that some people with insulin resistance and needing larger doses would not benefit from them.

 

[khskel]

Brilliant, just placed an order.

 

[gll]

thanks, will give it a go.
I will be broaching the subject of reusable pens. I have a used pen tub here with the intention of looking for recycling options. at least my fiasp can go into this one

 

[JJay]

Whilst I am in favour of recycling, to my mind a better option is to get a reusable pen and just get cartridges prescribed to go in them. I am not convinced that posting and transporting plastic around the world is significantly better than them going to landfill and I am dubious as to how much reprocessing goes on when they are returned and how much is a marketing ploy.
I really don't understand why all Type 1s are not put straight onto reusable pens and that half unit pens are not standard issue although I appreciate that some people with insulin resistance and needing larger doses would not benefit from them.

Hear! Hear! I can see no justification for disposable pens in this day and age. Only used them once (to be fair, it made sense while I discovered if Levemir would suit me better) and aside from the waste factor, I couldn't believe how much space they took up! Would have hated to be travelling with them

 

[rebrascora]

The other major advantage of the reusable pens is the "last dose" feature which is a safety function as far as I am concerned because I so often have those "Did I? " Didn't I? moments..... Or "When did I?", if for some reason I forgot to log it in my Libre notes. I really don't know how I would manage without that now! Surely it makes financial and environmental and patient safety sense!

 

[Lucyr]

The other major advantage of the reusable pens is the "last dose" feature which is a safety function as far as I am concerned because I so often have those "Did I? " Didn't I? moments..... Or "When did I?", if for some reason I forgot to log it in my Libre notes. I really don't know how I would manage without that now! Surely it makes financial and environmental and patient safety sense!

Not all reusable pens have the memory feature, there isn’t one available for apidra or lantus for example. Also reusable pens don’t suit everyone, I can’t use one for my lantus for example.

 

[JJay]

Not all reusable pens have the memory feature, there isn’t one available for apidra or lantus for example. Also reusable pens don’t suit everyone, I can’t use one for my lantus for example.

I had a reusable pen for Lantus - it was an Allstar Pro. They are quite hard to get hold of but are apparently still available here Allstar Pro from Easymeds , though I got mine off Ebay. Autopen24 will also work with Lantus cartridges, though it's somewhat clunky.

 

[rebrascora]

I had a reusable pen for Lantus - it was an Allstar Pro. They are quite hard to get hold of but are apparently still available here Allstar Pro from Easymeds , though I got mine off Ebay. Autopen24 will also work with Lantus cartridges, though it's somewhat clunky.

I think reuseable pens have a limit on how many units you can dial up and inject in one go and that may be an issue for people who need larger doses due to insulin resistance.

 

[Lucyr]

I had a reusable pen for Lantus - it was an Allstar Pro. They are quite hard to get hold of but are apparently still available here Allstar Pro from Easymeds , though I got mine off Ebay. Autopen24 will also work with Lantus cartridges, though it's somewhat clunky.

I’ve had some of those before but the cartridge holder unscrews and comes off whenever i try to unscrew the needle, so it doesn’t work, especially as I have a lack of coordination condition. I’m also not wanting to buy a product off eBay that I would be trusting my life on.

I do the juniorstar reusable pen for apidra but I couldn’t use it for lantus as it only goes up to 30u and dialling up to that for multiple basal jabs makes the pen too long and unstable for me to easily use.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I think reuseable pens have a limit on how many units you can dial up and inject in one go and that may be an issue for people who need larger doses due to insulin resistance.

The Novo Nordisk ones are 30u and 60u. (The Echo and Echo Plus are limited to 30u in half unit intervals, and the 5 and 6 are 60u in unit intervals.)

 

[JJay]

I think reuseable pens have a limit on how many units you can dial up and inject in one go and that may be an issue for people who need larger doses due to insulin resistance.

Allstar Pro - 80 units; Autopen - 42. But I accept that people need what they need. I would just rather see manufacturers concentrating on robust, reusable pens that meet users' needs rather than "recycling schemes"

 

[helli]

I think reuseable pens have a limit on how many units you can dial up and inject in one go and that may be an issue for people who need larger doses due to insulin resistance.

The advice I have read suggests splitting large doses into multiple injections to aid absorption.
So, limiting the max units in one injection is a good thing

 

[DaveB]

It makes more sense to have re-useable cartridge pens where they are available for your insulins such as NovoNordisk's. It does reduce waste.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I used reusable Autopen24s with Lantus and they were just about the least favourite diabetes device I’ve had.

Annoys me that insulin manufacturers aren’t made to make cartridges identical so that people can use any of the available pens with any insulin.

I can’t believe these companies make much money on the pens - they certainly don’t seem to put much effort in!

 

[JJay]

I used reusable Autopen24s with Lantus and they were just about the least favourite diabetes device I’ve had.

Annoys me that insulin manufacturers aren’t made to make cartridges identical so that people can use any of the available pens with any insulin.

I can’t believe these companies make much money on the pens - they certainly don’t seem to put much effort in!

I don't think they make anything on the pens - my understanding is that they distribute a lot of freebies to DSNs etc in the hope of getting takeup of the cartridges - on which they do make money! Rather like free meters with expensive test strips.