What to do with expired medications
Sooner or later, every home accumulates expired medications — leftovers from past treatments, duplicates, or things that were never used. The question that follows is always the same: now what?
What not to do
- Don't flush them down the toilet or sink. Pharmaceutical substances end up in waterways — treatment plants aren't built to remove them completely.
- Don't throw them in the regular trash. Even in sealed boxes, they can be found and misused, or contaminate other waste.
- Don't keep them indefinitely "just in case." The expiry date has already passed, and holding onto them only adds clutter to your home medicine management.
What to do: take them to a pharmacy or take-back program
Most countries run a medication take-back system through pharmacies, and many are free and require no prescription or ID. They typically accept:
- Expired medications (packaged or not)
- Medications you no longer need, even if not yet expired
- Empty medication packaging
Specifics vary by country — in the US, look for a DEA-authorized collector or a periodic take-back day; in the UK, most community pharmacies accept returns; many EU countries run pharmacy-based schemes similar to Portugal's Valormed. A quick search for "medication take-back near me" or a call to your local pharmacy will point you to the right option.
If you're in Portugal, every pharmacy has a Valormed collection point — see our Portuguese-language article for the local specifics.
What if it's a large amount?
If you're organizing a family member's medicine cabinet (say, after a deeper clean-out at a parent's home), there's no practical limit — you can bring everything at once to the same pharmacy. No need to sort by type or explain what you're dropping off.
How to avoid getting to this point
The best way to reduce buildup is to catch expired medications before they pile into an unresolved mess — a simple quarterly check already helps a lot (see our article on how to organize your home medicine cabinet). Tools like Curekit automatically alert you when something is about to expire, so you never end up with a drawer full of things to decide on.
Curekit is currently in closed testing.
Note: this article is informational and does not replace professional medical or pharmacist advice. Curekit is not a medical device.