Greener packaging: opportunities for sustainable medical device packaging

Requirements for primary medical device packaging

As you progress your medical device design, the preliminary discussions around your packaging will likely be about the primary package. Your primary pack comes with a number of key considerations and requirements, including the need for sterility, the protection of the internal contents and the safety of the external people and environment wherever the pack is handled.

There is a responsibility to think about the impacts of the materials used in device packaging and how they will be dealt with once used for their primary purpose. It’s a good sustainability aim to design the packaging so that the materials used have the minimum environmental impact.

For medical devices which need to be sterilised, this is currently a big ask. So far, the only materials found which can be realistically used for sterile packaging (those that will form a non-permeable barrier) are not biodegradable (e.g., foil, Tyvek, PETG).

How sustainable are the medical product packaging options available?

The go-to primary packaging options for medical devices are:

• Tyvek and PETG pouches – vac formed trays
• Foil pouches
• Glass – bottle/vials/ampoules/ prefilled syringes or cartridges
• All types of plastics – vacuum packs/ syringes/blister packs

All of these options can be recycled if treated in the correct manner; however, it’s worth noting that some treatments are quite energy and labour-intensive and require a lot more effort to put in place.

Incineration is often considered the ‘simplest’ and minimal risk route to treat these somewhat difficult or potentially infected materials after use, especially if they have contacted human tissue/fluids or contained active drugs. Of course, this raises further questions about what this means for the environment. Although the potentially infectious items are destroyed in a safe manner, incineration requires energy and produces heat, carbon and other gases, which may or may not be captured, but are most likely sent into the atmosphere.

There is no denying the need to ensure that people and the environment are not contaminated. Several standards specify how this type of waste must be dealt with, which must be adhered to. These include:

• Gov.UK Guidance, Packaging waste: producer responsibilities
• BS EN 13427:2004 Packaging. Requirements for the use of European Standards in the field of packaging and packaging waste
• Directive 2012/19/Eu of The European Parliament and of The Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

All these documents point to the common materials and packaging options listed above. This limited material choice has been developed over many years to meet these standards, meaning it is a bit of a closed circle.

With these limited options, what can we do to improve the opportunities for sustainable medical device packaging?

Greener packaging materials for medical devices

As new and greener materials are being developed, there are opportunities for innovation in this space. However, for any new packaging materials to be used in medical devices and be accepted by the industry, they will need to undergo extensive validation before companies can be assured they are suitable for use.

This work requires investment and will typically be taken on for the first time by large pharma or MedTech companies with huge resources. Once that first step is taken, other companies will likely be eager to follow suit and adopt greener alternatives.

Right now, there are a number of alternative materials on the cusp of becoming more widely adopted, especially plastics derived from non-oil-based raw materials, such as:

• Sulapac – wood fibre-based
• Polyhydroxyalkanoate – produced by industrial fermentation when certain bacteria are fed sugar or fat from feedstocks such as beets, sugar cane, corn, or vegetable oil

These materials are currently at development level, but have not yet entered the mainstream. The wait can certainly be frustrating for companies looking for alternative and more sustainable materials. In the meantime, there are a number of other important steps manufacturers can take to promote more sustainable medical device packaging.

Reducing material use in primary medical product packaging

Reducing the amount of packaging is an effective way to lower the overall carbon output of its development and any waste at its end of life, especially if the materials used are not recyclable. For example, if a sterilisable pack is required, a sustainable design challenge might be to consider how we can make it as small as possible.

There are a few ways to approach this:

• Keep the volume down, to ensure there is no unused empty space
  – This will have a positive knock-on effect of reducing the sterilisation energy burden per pack
  – This will also have a positive effect on shipping costs – saving space and avoiding simply ‘transporting air’ around
• Think very carefully about the primary pack materials
  – PETG is (currently) an oil-based plastic; however, is it really needed?¹
  – Foil pouches are laminates and are hard to separate for recycling
  – Glass is made from sand, but has high energy demands in manufacture and poses issues with reuse for primary packaging, meaning it is easier to dispose of
• Think about where the packaging comes from relative to the device manufacturing location
  – Cheaper packaging may be available from a different country but it may have a significant carbon cost if it then has to be shipped across the globe to be used with the device

It is important to consider the material options available to you, but in the end, as with anything in the medical industry, choices are ultimately led by the drug and/or sterility requirements and the standards which must be adhered to.

However, a focus on the amount of material used will still have a positive impact and will also spread into the secondary (and tertiary) packaging, as smaller material amounts will subsequently be required in these items.

Designing more sustainable medical packaging

When the packaging being designed doesn’t have as many restrictions, there are some sustainable medical device packaging options available. For example, innovative packaging designs can be created with simple folding card. Cardboard and paper are also quite green, so it is good practice to incorporate them where you can. Other options include:

• Cornstarch foam – it’s completely biodegradable and dissolves in hot water
• Pre-recycled materials such as paper pulp moulding – these use recycled materials as an input

Quantifying the carbon footprint of device design choices

In addition to these approaches, it can be helpful to spend some time comparing the environmental impact of these design options, with the same enthusiasm and attention that you would compare your device design options to fulfil your design brief.

This might include the use of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), a tool which allows you to understand the carbon footprint of different design and supplier decisions. Carbon footprint calculators such as these have an output metric called GWP (Global Warming Potential). The units for this are grams of emissions equivalent to carbon dioxide (gCO2e). This accounts for all emissions generated during the life cycle and can provide a useful tool to understand the impact of different choices you make.

Medical device packaging design for a more sustainable future

As a medical device designer, I have always tried to ensure that the packaging I design is fit for purpose and easy to use. Now, it is becoming increasingly important to give just as much focus to the sustainability of our packaging design, both in terms of materials used and what happens to it once it is opened and disposed of. It is only by making positive changes as an industry that we will be able to promote a more sustainable future.

Want to read more on medical device sustainability?

This article was taken from Team Consulting’s Insight magazine. Sign up for your own copy here.

Footnotes

¹ There is activity looking into alternatives to PETG and Tyvek packaging. This is mainly due to the requirements for surviving Ethylene Oxide (EtO) sterilisation, however no biodegradable materials have been identified as yet. Fossil CO2 is considered much more harmful than Biogenic CO2.