Roundtable: How New Approaches to Packaging Can Provide Greener Options

What’s driving sustainability in OSD packaging? 

Melissa Green, Head of Global Marketing – Healthcare, TekniPlex: 

Simply put, patients are consumers and consumers want reductions in plastic packaging. They also want packaging that is recyclable. While patients can’t directly control the packaging for their prescribed medications, they do have choices when it comes to over-the-counter drugs. Instead of making choices solely based on price (for example, brand name versus generic), many are choosing the preferred package they personally define as more sustainable. This can impact sales in a whole new way for drug manufacturers. 

In addition to consumer demands, legislation is a big driver for sustainability in OSD packaging, such as the European Union’s Green Deal, which aims for a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. Pharma companies also have created internal ESG programs that are driving their suppliers toward innovation through incentives, such as “preferred vendor” status for vendors with solutions that meet their corporate sustainability goals. 

Pieter Dirk Wassenaar, Business Manager, Pharma for Cremer Speciaalmachines:

Customers and increasingly regulators are pressing the pharmaceutical industry to narrow the sustainability gap with other sectors, particularly when it comes to reducing plastics waste in packaging. 

As much as companies in the pharma sector make encouraging strides to lower energy use, use renewable power and reduce carbon footprints through supply chain efficiencies, packaging remains an element that draws heightened scrutiny because it ends up in the hands of customers and healthcare providers. That means added emphasis is placed on packaging and its sustainability – or lack thereof.

Jacob McSweeney, Field Applications Engineer, Medical Packaging Machinery Division, Maruho Hatsujyo Innovations (MHI), the U.S. subsidiary of Maruho Co.:

We have found that consumers are the primary drivers of sustainability. People are more concerned about the products they use and how they potentially affect the environment. And while pharma had been largely shielded from this sentiment for some time, in recent years folks have begun leering at pharma packaging with an eco-friendly eye as well, partly because healthcare has often been plagued with overpackaging. While consumers don’t expect packaging in pharma to be as sustainable as in the food sector – pharma must always put patient safety and product efficacy first – it’s clear they expect some measure of progress along the sustainability front. 

Of course, additional drivers are coming from governments, as they continue to develop and improve increasingly sophisticated recycling stream infrastructure. Here, one issue will be whether government entities in the US and Canada partake in widespread “plastics taxes” on certain materials (such as PVC), which could expedite the timeframe for larger scale transitions to more sustainability minded films. 

What are the biggest opportunities? 

Green: As pharma companies consider changing a packaging solution, they are taking the opportunity to improve patient experiences while also working toward sustainability improvements. They are asking how they can improve child resistance while also making the package easier to open for seniors. They want to help patients improve their compliance in taking their medication at the right intervals. Challenging the status quo on packaging formats to do more is one of the biggest opportunities. 

Wassenaar: As a machine manufacturer, we are largely dependent on our upstream partners innovating via materials science – and making those innovations as “machinable” as possible. Of course, there are certain facets of eco-friendliness that we, as equipment providers, can indeed control. These include devising machines to run effectively while consuming significantly less energy, and making machines that simply last longer in the field – a “sustainability addition by subtraction,” since longer machine lifespans mean less plastics, metals, etc. in landfills. Another aspect where equipment manufacturers can take the initiative is making sure machines are as materials agnostic as possible. By that, we mean building machines capable of handling newer, typically less production-friendly substrates implemented largely due to enhanced recyclability. 

McSweeney: We’re starting to see a critical mass in terms of sustainable substrates – and that’s opening the door to a tremendous number of opportunities. Several prominent materials suppliers are in various stages of developing more sustainable materials displaying excellent barrier properties at reasonable costs. These improvements are coming from “both ends” of the plastics sustainability spectrum, meaning some solutions are composed of certain percentages of recycled materials, whereas others are recyclable in common recycling streams. In due time, these snowballing improvements will help both brands and consumers more closely associate blister packaging with eco-consciousness. 

In the longer term, the growing wellspring of more sustainable blister solutions can be divvied up into three categories. The first is packaging that is friendly to physical recycling, while the second constitutes packaging that jives with chemical recycling processes. The third, which so far is more aspirational than reality, comprises packaging made from bioresins rather than petrochemical feedstocks. 

What are the biggest challenges? 

Green: The biggest challenges are still safety, security and environmental protection of the drugs themselves. Packaging is asked – and in some cases required – to perform multiple tasks. Depending on a drug’s toxicity, child resistance may be required. Some drugs have sensitivities to moisture and/or oxygen, and sometimes light. Tamper resistance is desired to assure patients that drugs haven’t been altered. The challenge is finding materials and package designs that can provide all of these characteristics while also being sustainable. Companies are also asking for sustainability innovations that can be offered at similar or minimal added cost to conventional solutions. 

Wassenaar: Historically, pharma packaging’s sustainability challenge has been largely materials-centric. Conventional plastics have presented an ease in sealing, as well as simplicity in tamper-proofing. These measures are less simple when incorporating many sustainability-minded substrates; for example, current attempts to construct pill bottles from a paperboard base have faced hurdles maintaining a 100% seal after initial opening. 

McSweeney: One challenge companies face in transitioning to sustainable packaging materials is the cost of certifying next generation substrates, including long-term stability studies. Although current data indicates that recently announced sustainable solutions from leading material vendors show excellent barrier properties, the FDA needs to see the long term probes and stability testing being performed. 

Any recent innovations you can point to? 

Green: Most recently for thermoformable blister packaging formats, materials that received mechanical recycling certifications have been introduced to the market. There are now blister film plus lidding options comprised of polyester materials recyclable in the PET resin (or resin code #1) recycling stream. These options don’t offer any environmental barriers to moisture or oxygen, but many drug formulations are stable enough that this packaging option is a viable alternative to traditional PVC blister plus foil lidding formats. 

Also recently introduced, polypropylene (PP)-based blister films plus PP lidding film create a fully transparent recyclable blister that can be recycled in the PP stream, where such recycling infrastructure exists. This transparent polypropylene-based solution is the first of its kind, as it provides a barrier to both moisture and/or oxygen, matching barrier levels of 40 to 90- gram PVDC-coated PVC. Both of these offerings are available from TekniPlex Healthcare. Wassenaar: Cremer recently supported a customer undergoing a novel transition to carton bottles. The customer needed to fill these bottles with liners such as Tetrapack. We helped the customer overcome several pitfalls along the way, including issues pertaining to the light weight of the bottles, and ensuring that the containers were not scratched while passing through our counting and filling systems. 

McSweeney: MHI has worked with several companies testing sustainable blister packaging materials, as our small-footprint blister packaging machines are ideal for such intensive trial runs. These companies are striving to provide more eco-friendly options for consumers without – and this is crucial – sacrificing product protection or patient health. One positive that has emerged out of these various trials is that we, as a machinery provider, have been able to fine tune our equipment to better handle newer, more sustainable film materials – whose forming and flowing properties don’t necessarily match those of non-sustainable legacy materials like PVC. 

There’s a larger lesson here: as the pharma sector continues its transition to more sustainable packaging materials, the machines that handle these substrates will need to keep pace with the materials science. In the short term, this will mean machines that can efficiently handle and seal OSD blister materials compatible with either physical or chemical recycling. The most prominent substrates in this category would be HDPE, PP and PET. 

How are pharma companies changing their packaging approach as the push for sustainability becomes stronger? 

Green: One of the first things pharma has been doing is NOT automatically packaging the way they always did. They are taking a step back and asking themselves how they can pair safety and security with sustainability. 

One of the first tools in the sustainability-minded packaging toolbox is seeking opportunities for light-weighting. Can the wall thickness of the bottle be decreased? Can I use a thinner seal in my bottle closure? Can I down-gauge the plastic in my blister pack? 

Pharma companies also are asking their suppliers for alternate materials – evaluating materials that are recyclable or may contain recycled material, while also challenging packaging formats for more novel or environmentally friendly alternatives. 

Wassenaar: We’re seeing pharma packaging companies start to move away from long-held limitations on what pharma packaging “should” or “must” be. Part of this is driven by regulation – especially in Europe, where meeting pending goals of recycled resin content will mean participation from all sectors, including healthcare. 

For us as machinery manufacturers, the entire landscape is simpler than that, since our main responsibilities involve curbing excess energy waste and, as mentioned, ensuring that equipment can handle next-generation packaging materials designed to be more recyclable, lighter weight, etc. 

McSweeney: Above all else, we’ll see first a trickle and then a deluge of blister packages and other OSD formats (such as amber vials) comprised of more sustainable resins. It’s a critical first step with the potential to remove countless tons of non-recyclable virgin plastics from landfills and oceans. 

From there, of course, it’s on the pharma companies – meaning on the brand owners and generics manufacturers and contract packagers – to actually adopt these solutions with pride in their reduced carbon footprint and, most importantly, confidence in these new solutions’ ability to protect products and patients. There are hurdles to adopting new packaging in pharma–especially primary packaging, which comes into direct contact with drugs. Approvals, time, expenses… all come into play here, and may slow the transition significantly without sufficient regulatory intervention. 

Pharma companies are also looking at “net zero” and other milestones as corporate commitments. It is difficult to say (and will vary from company to company) the future impact of this on the packaging of OSDs, but as more and more CEOs commit their companies to certain levels of sustainability, the pressure will reach packaging. 

Beyond packaging, what are some other areas where pharma could be more “green”? 

Green: Outside of packaging, there are countless opportunities to be more green. Using the six factors of sustainability as a guide – optimize the use of fossil fuels, eliminate waste, recycle, recover energy, save time, and reduce or eliminate pollution – lots of ideas will bubble to the surface. 

Some are straightforward, such as moving to all-digital communication to reduce paper usage. Evaluating the type of lighting used in facilities and moving to more energy-saving sources, and/or adding motion sensors, reduces energy consumption. 

On a much larger scale, entering into agreements to source energy from renewables such as wind or solar, or creating programs with suppliers to meet CO2 emissions requirements, are other ways to make significant sustainability progress. If pharma looks beyond the regulated aspects of their processes, there will be many opportunities for them (and all companies) to be more “green.” 

McSweeney: Pharma will invariably look at their manufacturing processes and logistic practices – as well as those of their myriad vendors and partners – to find ways to reduce their carbon footprints. Inevitably, some of the most significant progress will be outside the realm of OSD packaging, or even packaging in general. Some of this will mandate a broadened, more sophisticated understanding of sustainability concepts like life cycle assessments and circularity.

Are there any examples of success–or at least progress–you can point to? 

Green: In packaging, pharma has already taken steps that have resulted in real progress. Almost completely gone from the shelves in an over-the-counter environment is secondary cardboard packaging previously used to package bottles. This is a simple but highly noticeable step in the right direction pertaining to materials reduction. Other companies have made substantial strides in slimming down the primary container; for example, GSK has incorporated a 20% reduction in the plastics used in its Advil bottles. 

Some companies have even looked at reformulating their medicines so they can be manufactured in a more environmentally friendly way – either with less water consumption and less waste or with fewer carbon emissions. In some cases, these reformulations also allow the medicines to be packaged in a way that requires less environmental protection, opening the door for packaging materials recyclable at the patient level. 

McSweeney: We are working with industry- leading material suppliers on more sustainable materials. The partnerships are proprietary, but we can share that what we’re seeing is highly promising. 

How can sustainability increase profits, rather than costs? 

Green: With a strong focus on reducing the consumption of natural resources, while also creating more efficient processes, the end result is often lower cost and higher profits. This is because saving energy and materials organically result in saving money – the less resources expended to manufacture something, the lower the production price tag. Reusing, recycling, repurposing – these mantras can apply to economics as surely as they can the environment. This mindset also brings a big bonus: the opportunity to invest more on a novel packaging material, because savings have been gained in other aspects of the packaging design and development process. Employing the old adage “haste makes waste” is helping pharmaceutical companies take a step back and not automatically repeat the processes (and packaging) of the past. They are asking themselves how they can take waste out of the entire system, and this will inevitably help increase profits in the long term.

McSweeney: There are several ways sustainable practices can positively impact bottom lines as well as the planet. For starters, resource reduction – for example, light weighting – leads to packages comprised of less materials. That’s better for both the environment and a company’s revenue stream. Targeting recycling of scraps is another money-saving eco-endeavor.