Medical Design Briefs - August 2024 - 14

Concerns about climate change,
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
plastic waste, and pressure to move
toward a circular economy are
prompting a greater focus on
improving the sustainability of their
products and packaging. (Credit:
Working Moments/AdobeStock)
Packaging and Processing:
Life Sciences Industry Strives to Become More Sustainable
S
ustainability remains a dominant trend in packaging
and processing, continuing to attract the attention
of the life sciences industry and inspire its new
initiatives. Although pharmaceutical and medical
device manufacturers must prioritize patient safety
and product protection, concerns about climate change, greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, plastic waste, and pressure to move
toward a circular economy are prompting a greater focus on improving
the sustainability of their products and packaging.
Evolving regulations and consumer preferences also influence
the transition to more sustainable practices. As a result,
pharmaceutical manufacturers are setting goals to achieve
climate-neutral production and beginning to produce annual
sustainability reports, often aligned with Global Reporting
Initiative Standards. Reports may include the presentation of
certified Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data.*
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are working on many fronts to
be more sustainable. The top three strategies are refining packaging
formats, demanding OEMs improve their energy-efficient
ratings, and lightweighting, according to " Pharmaceutical Manufacturing:
The Future Ahead, " an infographic based on a recent
survey of end users by PMMI Business Intelligence, a division of
PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.
Tactics to achieve these sustainability goals include:
* Eliminating or minimizing plastic.
* Lightweighting or downgauging materials.
* Shifting from nonrecyclable to recyclable materials.
* Transitioning to renewable materials.
* Specifying materials with recycled content.
* Adopting reusables and establishing a reusables infrastructure.
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* Designing for cube efficiency, waste reduction, and the smallest
carbon footprint.
* Awareness of the growing number of extended producer responsibility
(EPR) laws.
* Acceptance of a broader definition of sustainability, which
includes ESG (environmental, social, and governance)
policies and may involve efforts to save energy, reduce
water consumption, and minimize the carbon footprint
of each process, product, package, production line, and
supply chain.
To spearhead these efforts, suppliers are innovating
new products to bolster these strategies while embracing
sustainability- focused approaches. New options include
mono- material structures such as tubes, metal-free nasal
pumps, and blister film and lidding combinations that are
easier to recycle, as well as materials with recycled content,
including some glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
containers and PET blister films. Lightweighted glass vials are
also available.
While recyclable and recycled-content materials are critical
to achieving a true 360 life cycle, a successful transition
and implementation of new, greener developments will require
policy changes. Both recyclable and recycled-content
materials are critical to circularity. However, a successful
transition to a circular economy depends on more than recyclability
and the specification of recycled content; it also
will require policy changes to improve collection, enhance
sortation, and boost capacity for end-of-life reprocessing, according
to the 2023 " Packaging Compass: Evaluating Trends
in U.S. Packaging Design Over the Next Decade and Impliwww.medicaldesignbriefs.com
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Medical Design Briefs - August 2024

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