Here's what pharmaceutical companies need to consider to successfully implement sustainable packaging for medicines .
Station 1: RETHINK
Monomaterials such as PE or PP can promote recycling. However, an aluminum-aluminum blister could also be a recycling-friendly solution if the barrier needs to be very high, which would be preferable. The use of recyclates in non-direct contact is also worth considering. There is also increasing work in the direction of recycled aluminum.
Station 2: REFUSE
The use of fiber-based promotional items for pharmacy instead of plastic bags, plastic tissues, or plastic or multilayer product samples, which are short-term in nature and unlikely to have a long shelf life or barriers, would be an option. It could also be questioned whether a reduction in free samples at the pharmacy would result in fewer single-serving packages.
Station 3: REDUCE
Increasingly, we are seeing the size of packaging increase, especially in OTC and dietary supplements, or the inner packaging being made very convenient. Facing and attention have become more important in a market where consumers want to choose for themselves or find the brand they know. More compact packages save resources and also disposal fees, they may even reduce storage and transport space.
Material thicknesses should also be checked, just like the proportions of the containers. Here, we at pacoon offer an analysis tool with which proportions can be checked and optimized without having to design the package first: through digital simulation. Material savings combined with space savings of 10-15% are often possible here.
Station 4: REUSE
The reuse of packaging only offers itself to a limited extent: where the barrier requirements are not very high. Tablets sold in PE or PP cans could also be packaged in reusable packaging along with the option of returning them to the pharmacy. This would also be a highly interesting scenario for sterilized medical technology products, as these also frequently occur in small, closed cycles and could be collected again very easily. Reuse applications are also often very easy to implement in B2B business.
Station 5: RENEW
The use of bio-based plastics such as PET, PE, PP or fiber materials such as cardboard or paper would be a conceivable approach.
Station 6: REMOVE
PVC is harmful to health, in production and in incineration. Aluminum foil on blisters hinders recycling if a switch to monomaterials is considered. Also, aluminum foil itself is expensive and harmful to the environment.
Station 7: RECYCLE
The use of recyclable monomaterials in packaging, separability of materials and use of recyclates without direct contact can certainly be achieved very quickly in pharmaceutical products. This does not even require rethinking packaging.
Station 8: RECOVER
Packaging waste is often not separated separately in medical practices and hospitals. Here, on the one hand, separation could make it possible to recover valuable raw materials, while at the same time certain waste can also be sold as an important resource, for example in the case of cardboard packaging.
Station 9: REGENERATE
A wonderful field for further research on how regeneration could work for packaging in the medical field.
Station 10: RECOMPOST
Composting is certainly a major challenge in the packaging sector for pharmaceutical products and is only relevant in individual cases and in certain sales markets. However, there are certainly films and applications where even higher barrier requirements are achievable or where compostable or biodegradable packaging materials could also be used for promotional items and product samples. These are readily discarded carelessly and could therefore degrade in nature. Fiber-based packaging also breaks down and decomposes in nature if it is equipped with the right, compostable barrier – if necessary.