Rite Aid, Google to promote safe medication disposal

Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid is teaming up with Google Maps in an effort to promote safe medication disposal.

The company announced that more than 550 medication disposal units across the nation are now searchable on Google Maps, making it even easier for people to safely dispose of unneeded or unwanted medications.

“We are constantly looking for additional ways to help combat prescription drug abuse and misuse, which is impacting communities across the country,” Bryan Everett, chief operating officer of Rite Aid, and president of The Rite Aid Foundation. “Thanks to new technology, and partners like Google, finding a safe, monitored place to dispose of unused or unwanted prescription drugs is now as easy as opening an app on your phone or using Google Maps on your laptop.”

To find a safe medication disposal unit in one of the retailer’s stores or a KidCents Safe Medication Disposal Unit in a local police station or law enforcement agency, users can simply search on Google (including Google Maps on a browser or mobile device) for “medication disposal near me.” Google will show results with the closest Rite Aid medication disposal units for people to safely dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs.

In 2018, Rite Aid announced plans to install 100 medication disposal units in stores across the country. The 100th unit was recently installed in Ottawa, Ohio.