"Sustainability has become an important issue for many pharmaceutical companies," says Gene Dul, President Schreiner MediPharm L.P. "Sustainable product design considers all the lifecycles of a product, from production to the use of the product and all the way to disposal or recycling. In general, it is crucial that all stakeholders are committed to sustainability, i.e. customers, employees, shareholders, business partners and suppliers as well as the social environment.
PMP News asked Gina Pugliese, RN, MS, vice president of Premier’s Safety Institute, a few questions pertaining to packaging sustainability.
Is reducing the amount of packaging waste when it comes to pharmaceutical and medical packaging important to hospitals? Why or why not?
By Patrick Nolan, President, DDL Inc.
Whole Foods Market reports that it has implemented new responsible packaging guidelines for all body care and supplement suppliers. As part of the change, the company has switched to post-consumer recycled (PCR) content bottles for several of its store-brand supplements and body care products.
In the area of vaccines, packaging is critical to securing the safety and stability of the product. High-maintenance facets of infectious diseases and the vaccines that prevent them demand forethought and fastidious effort from pharmaceutical companies, healthcare ad agencies, and physicians alike.
Neosporin brand has partnered with waste converter TerraCycle to recycle expired antibiotic tubes. On Earth Day, the two companies encouraged consumers to begin collecting these tubes and recycle them by joining one of TerraCycle’s 1000 Neosporin Tube Brigades. These groups collect used packages and send them to TerraCycle for converting into innovative products.
Hexacomb from Pregis Corp. has received the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certification for those products produced at Pregis's Ermelo, Netherlands, production facility. The company is one of the first honeycomb producers to receive FSC certification (No. SCS-COC-003200), it reported in a press release.
Two providers of pharmaceutical or medical device packaging have been recognized in the 22nd DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation. Entropy Solutions Inc. has received a Gold award for its GreenBox shipping solution, and Degill International Corp. has received a Silver award for its EZ Fusion two-in-one vial package.
NSF International (Ann Arbor, MI) has earned accreditation from the Biodegradable Products Institute to test plastic materials and products for compostability. This accreditation expands NSF’s sustainability services.