Abstract

DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR HOUSEHOLD MEDICINE DISPOSAL PRACTICES IN INDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT

Manoj Kumar T. and S. Saravanan*

ABSTRACT

Reverse logistics refers to managing a supply chain in reverse direction from the consumers to the manufacturers. Reverse logistics is the part of supply chain management practice that flow of products and information from the customers to the manufacturers for the purpose of value recapture and proper disposal. It becomes more challenging, mainly, in the background of supply chains of perishable products. The pharmaceutical medicines are time perishable which plays an important role in order to cure, prevent and diagnose human disease and keep people healthy. It is important issue that the disposal of pharmaceutical medicines to the environment and it requires special handling to dispose. Pharmaceutical medicine waste is a form of medical waste that includes unused or expired household medications. This study is performed by using secondary data collection method as review of various literatures. In this study we discussed various disposal practices of unwanted or expired household pharmaceutical medicines and proposed a conceptual framework model about disposal practices, type of medicines and amount of impacts.

Keywords: Reverse logistics practices, Disposal practices, Environmental hazards, Household Medicines.