MATERIALS | MEDICAL


Right:


Suedpack’s PP-based PharmaGuard recyclable


blister helps to reduce carbon footprint


The company also showcased its range of more sustainable blister packaging solutions, which can be run on standard machines. It has developed a pharma-grade blister film with 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. It incorporates Alpek Polyester’s Octal rDPET sheet technology, which – when combined with TekniPlex’s Teknilid Push polyester lidding – yields a blister package that can be recycled in the polyester stream. It also exhibited what it says is the


world’s first fully transparent recyclable mid-barrier blister package. Recyclable in places where the #5 (polypropylene) recycling stream is available, the blisters feature a polyolefin blister film paired with a barrier PP lidding film.


Recyclabe PP


At the CPHI in Italy last year, Suedpack Medica exhibited its PharmaGuard recyclable blister concept – based on polypropylene (PP) – for hard pharmaceutical products or nutraceuticals. The focus on one polymer (PP) means the overall concept ensures simple, effective recyclability. This makes it a major contributor to a circular economy, it says. According to an LCA conducted by Sphera, PharmaGuard helps to reduce carbon footprint, and both energy and water consumption compared to typical blister solutions made of PVC/PVdC and aluminium, it says. Other benefits of PharmaGuard its high


transparency, water vapour barrier, stable shrinkage behaviour and wide sealing range. It also offers simple, secure sealing without additional sealing coating. When developing the solution, the company wanted to ensure childproof yet user-friendly unpacking. “As with conventional packaging solutions, a blister concept with PP-based top and bottom webs must ensure it is easy to pop out the tablets or capsules whatever their size, shape and type,” said Thomas Freis, managing director of Suedpack Medical. The mono-material is also free of phthalates,


vinyl, PFAS and halogens, making it safe for human health, he added.


Blister recovery Blister packaging is commonly made from a composite of PVC and aluminium but can be hard to recycle. This is often done by grinding the scrap finely, but this can produce aluminium with up to 10% residual PVC – so cannot be used directly as a recyclate.


38 FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION | January/February 2025 An alternative – developed by Fraunhofer IVV in Germany – is to use an


extractive, solvent-based process. Fraunhofer originally developed the technique to recycle polystyrene. The process removes the PVC using selective ‘green solvents’ (which are non-hazardous and emit no VOCs). The aim is to produce high- purity secondary aluminium and a PVC recyclate that can be used by the plastics industry – such as for window profiles, credit cards or even new blister packaging. At the same time, the PVC-free aluminium is suitable for re-use. The process was originally tested on blister


packaging 10 years ago as part of a research project. It was recently optimised in an industry project (in collaboration with VinylPlus). Now, a pilot plant with a throughput of up to 20 kg/h for solvent-based plastic recycling is available at Fraunhofer IVV to evaluate the process on a technical scale and produce sample quantities for external application tests.


Medical branding Materials developer Coveris has brought its medical offerings under a single brand name: MediFlex. “The demand for high quality, sustainable medical packaging is steadily growing,” said Jan-Willem Bruijsten, director of the medical segment at Coveris. “We recently invested over €8 million to expand production capacity and know- how for medical device packaging at our Rohrdorf and Halle facilities in Germany.” The investment involved upgrading medical device production, including ISO Class 7 cleanroom manufacturing. Coveris says the rebrand helps distinguish its medical portfolio from other non-food applications – and reflects the heritage of its Rohrdorf and Halle sites as specialists in medical packaging.


US expansion Medical packaging specialist Nelipak has opened its first North American flexible packaging production site, in North Carolina.


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IMAGE: SUEDPACK


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