Sustainability In Pharmaceutical Processing: Meeting Ecological Challenges

Increasing urbanisation, smaller household sizes and an ageing population are fundamentally changing the expectations towards more sustainable pharmaceutical processing and packaging. According to Carsten Weiss,Vice President Engineering, Bosch Packaging Technology, manufacturers, material and packaging suppliers, as well as mechanical engineering and waste management companies need to join forces in order to develop truly sustainable packaging and processing concepts.An insight

GIVEN THE demographic change and more responsible consumer behaviour, the current trend is toward smaller portions. This can be seen in the growing demand for convenience and on-the-go products. In many growth markets, small portions are also the number one choice due to consumers’ limited financial resources. As a result, packaging sizes are becoming smaller, yet the number of individual packages is constantly on the rise. Although the sense of environmental responsibility among the general public is improving, every year more than eight million metric tonne of plastic litter find their way into the ocean, due in part to insufficiently established or poorly implemented waste disposal processes. According to figures from the UN, this amounts to roughly one garbage-truck load per minute. In parallel, more and more effort is being put into the development of sustainable packaging and environmentally friendlier manufacturing processes.

The spirit of sustainability

But what good does the most environmentally-friendly packaging design do if it is not compatible with processing and packaging machinery? Or if the process steps involved in its manufacturing, filling, packaging and disposal involve much higher energy consumption? All parties involved in the production and supply chain have to work together to devise more sustainable solutions.