Always one step ahead!

Long more of a buzzword than a strategic goal, the role of sustainability in the pharmaceutical packaging industry is currently undergoing fundamental change. In the EU, being able to prove the existence of a sustainability strategy accompanied by decarbonization targets and evidence of its implementation is becoming a legal obligation for many companies. In an increasing number of markets, the production of plastic waste is also already subject to specific financial sanctions, e.g. through corresponding taxes or recycling requirements. Alongside this, however, many companies have also set themsleves ambitious sustainability targets: out of a sense of responsibility for the future of the company and the common environment.

In the area of packaging for pharmaceutical products, especially medicines, the switch to sustainable or largely plastic-free packaging poses a major challenge. After all, especially in the area of sensitive medications, there are fundamental functional and technical reasons why multi-substance packaging options are the first choice. They often allow requirements for the protection of active ingredients to be ensured both more reliably and less expensively than is possible with pure paper or cardboard-based packaging.

Furthermore, there is another obstacle to the changeover. In many cases, the primary and secondary packaging of a drug forms an integral part of the required approval. Changes to the packaging and in the packaging process have to go through an elaborate, cost-intensive approval process.

Paper-based packaging has the image of being particularly sustainable – especially among end consumers, and it is certainly true that paper has a high recycling factor. However, in other key aspects upon which the real sustainability of a packaging solution depends, paper and cardboard do not necessarily perform better than some plastics. For example, water and land consumption and the use of bleaching agents and other chemicals in the production of paper and cardboard are decisive factors in any assessment of their sustainability. Moreover, forestry plantations are often huge monocultures and ecological deserts with poor living conditions for workers. Only paper that is certified by reputable agencies as comprehensively sustainable really contributes to the positive climate and ecobalance of a packaging solution.