Product

How Phlo safely and sustainably delivers refrigerated medication

August 31, 2022
7 minute read
Lucy Drennan

At Phlo, we value great patient care while also doing our best to protect our planet the best we can.

We understand that providing recyclable and sustainable packaging is important to our patients, as well as to all our employees. We are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and look for new opportunities to be eco-friendly. In addition to providing eco-friendly packaging options, our couriers also deliver our patients medication on bicycle the same day in London where we can.

In this blog, we would like to highlight one of our packaging suppliers, WoolCool, a leading provider of temperature-controlled packaging. We use WoolCool to package any medication that is required to be refrigerated and transported to our patients keeping it cool throughout its journey to you. It has some unique aspects to it which we would like to show you below and let you know how you can re-use and recycle 100% of the packaging too.

What is WoolCool?

Wool is a natural product derived from sheep after being sheared in the summer months. Using wool has evolved over hundreds of years from cloths, carpets, scarves to now insulation in packaging. Wool is one of the most sustainable and natural materials there is and available in abundance.

Here are just some of the wool properties:

How it’s made

WoolCool is a packaging material made from 100% pure sheep's wool and used to keep contents constantly cool for a long time. WoolCool takes the wool cut from sheep, washes it with a mild detergent and uses a heat treatment to clean the wool. The wool is then dried and prepared for usage. The whole process is toxin-free, checked monthly and carried out to ISO standards. The International Organization for Standardization is an independent, non-governmental, international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficiency of products.

The wool is packaged in a plastic lining made from Grade 4 MDPE/LDPE plastic which is 100% recyclable. This can be widely recycled in line with other plastics. The wool is completely compositable and will naturally decompose whether it’s put in soil or landfill.

WoolCool keeps medication cool in between a 2-8-degree temperature range whilst in transmit. This has been independently proven to be maintained for 24 to 120 hours. We deliver fridge medication same-day if you are in London or Birmingham same-day zones, otherwise Express next-day delivery.

How to re-use my WoolCool?

WoolCool is very versatile and there are a number of ways you can re-use the WoolCool packaging from your refrigerated medication.

Here is a list of ideas:

Check out WoolCool’s hashtag #letsboxclever on social media to see other amazing ideas from people.

Not able to re-using your packaging? No problem!

If you aren’t reusing your WoolCool, you can either put it in a compostable bin or dig a hole in the garden and simply plant it. As it breaks down in the ground, it releases nutrients back into the soil.

In the next instalment of our sustainability series we will be looking in-depth about how Phlo is becoming a more sustainable and eco-friendly Pharmacy.

**Please note this blog covers our refrigeration packaging only. Any packaging of the medication itself such as foil or plastic is out with our control.

"We're proud to be doing our part to make the world a more sustainable place. We have big future plans to make Phlo as eco-friendly as possible.

Switch to Phlo today and join thousands of happy patients.

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