The next time you go to the pharmacy to pick up medications, you may get them in new paper-based pill bottles.
It's all part of a pilot program created by Parcel Health, a startup co-founded by CEO Melinda Su-En Lee with the goal of reducing the amount of plastic pill bottle waste.
“When they see the pill bottle, they’re going to be surprised that it doesn’t look like a standard plastic pill bottle but it does have the same shape,” said Su-En Lee. “So, it’s still a cylindrical shape and the child-resistant closure is a push and twist mechanism and, on the outside, it is a coated paper which makes it water resistant.”
These new bottles - also known as the Tully Tube - are already being used at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, but AHN plans to roll these out to its other pharmacies throughout the entire health network.