Circular economy jobs and the pharmaceutical waste challenge

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A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme warned that unused medicines are creating a fast-growing but largely unregulated waste stream. 

As pharmaceutical waste rises globally, it is also opening up a largely untapped circular economy market, particularly in Africa, where disposal systems remain fragmented or absent. 

In Africa, this is expected to rise quickly. Pharmaceutical spending across the continent is projected to grow by more than 30% over the next five years, driven by population growth and increased access to medicines.

But as access improves, so does the volume of unused drugs.

In many countries, systems to safely collect and dispose of these medicines are still limited or fragmented. This means a significant share of pharmaceuticals goes unmanaged, posing risks to both the environment and public health.

At the same time, this gap is opening up a new circular economy opportunity.

In more mature markets like the United Kingdom and Australia, pharmaceutical waste is already managed through structured take-back systems and disposal networks.

In much of Africa, these systems are still developing, creating space to build out an entire value chain around how unused medicines are collected, tracked and treated.

This is not a completely new job market, but an expanding one.

Roles in medical waste management, healthcare operations and supply chains already exist, but rising pharmaceutical waste is increasing demand and pushing these roles to become more specialised.

Some of the work areas this could strengthen include reverse logistics for collecting unused medicines, digital systems for tracking drug use and disposal, and waste treatment infrastructure for hazardous materials.

As these systems grow, there will be increasing demand for talent across areas such as logistics, environmental health, compliance, data systems, healthcare operations among other roles.

For young professionals interested in climate and sustainability, this is another example of how green jobs are emerging in less obvious sectors.

While the systems are still developing, the circular space worth watching as it continues to evolve with a projection that it could create up to 11 million jobs in Africa.