Mayors from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River regions launched a new program June 18 to help keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products out of the waterways at the the sixth annual Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Meeting in Trois-Rivières, Que.
The Cities Initiative Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products Frameworktracks the volume of pharmaceuticals and personal care products collected by municipalities and assists local government with improving their local collection and disposal efforts where there is an absence of adequate action by manufacturers, retailers and other governments.
Eleven member cities collected close to 700,000 pounds of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the year 2008 alone.
“Local government has proven its leadership on the issue of proper collection and disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products,” said cities initiative past chair Lynn Peterson, Mayor of Thunder Bay. “Mayors would like to see increased producer accountability for their products, including the collection and disposal of pharmaceutical and personal care products.”
“I am very pleased with the action we’ve taken at this year’s Annual Meeting on the Water Quality Agreement and efforts to keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products out of the Lakes and River,” said Mayor John Rowswell of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. “Local government continues to be a catalyst for change and action on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.”
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