When a relative who had been on a lot of drugs passed away a few years ago, the pharmacy (a national chain whose name you will have heard of) refused to take the remaining drugs back.
Instead I was given a pamphlet on proper procedures to follow and the address of Dangerous goods disposal site.
The paperwork to dispose of the drugs alone would have taken hours to complete.
To say nothing of different procedures for the different medications.

This article may describe a nice theory but it does not reflect reality.