Healthcare packaging design is quite important since it actually impacts the user in many ways. It determines safe usage, sterility and even the performance of the product. Now, there are more expectations of sustainability and this creates a bigger challenge when it comes to creating better and more sustainable packaging that doesn’t fall short when it comes to the critical factors listed above.
The packaging of medicine is very important for the delivery of that medicine. It also helps to improve longevity, sterility, usability while also ensuring the product is well protected.
We are a leader in packaging and we have a philosophy that we follow when creating healthcare packaging that is not only safe but also sustainable and high performing.
The 5 main priorities that we have are as follows.
- Ensuring that active molecules remain stable, effective and maintain their integrity
The main reason why pharma packaging is so important is because it serves to protect the medicine from being contaminated. It also ensures it is fully effective until it it used. It provides a barrier between the medicine and the external world, in particular moisture and gas. These things can easily change the medicine. The packaging serves to ensure the medicine doesn’t get contaminated or physically damaged while ensuring the active ingredients remain stable.
- Making sure the packaging remains fully functional
When it comes to patient care, packaging is also very important. It doesn’t matter if the medicine is used at home or in surgical theatre or in a hospital. The persons who use it would have to peel, open or push the packaging in order to obtain the medication within. As a result, the packaging should be well designed so that this process is easy and convenient while also ensuring it is still safe in whatever environment it is in, including the home. We have a very committed R&D team that works quite hard to ensure that our packaging is child resistant while still being senior friendly and easy to use.
- Packaging should ensure that medications are safe while being in transit
In the last 2 years, the supply chain has been greatly impacted. This has caused a great deal of instability and flux. However, good packaging is necessary so that medications remain in good condition and well preserved while being in transit so that the users can safely use them. It is very important that healthcare packaging is very safe while being transported throughout the supply chain.
- Highly safe and sustainable
It is important that healthcare industries improve their packaging so that they are of better quality and made out of better materials. With that said, this needs to be done in a highly sustainable way. It has to fit the sustainable guidelines that are always changing while also meeting the needs of consumers. This is a challenging balance that companies will need to figure out where their packaging has to be sustainable while also being safe. We at Amcor are always looking at new ways of improving our packaging while being sustainable.
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- Innovation
Within the packaging sector, there is a great deal of innovation and experimentation. There are many new advances being made in material science that continue to push the possibilities of healthcare packaging. This means that there is a huge shift from typical packaging to new types of packaging with new features and material compositions. This type of experimentation has made way for better sustainability within the industry.
Amcor & Sustainability
We at Amcor have a huge commitment to sustainability and in January 2018, we pledged to ensure that all the packaging created by us would be reusable or recycle by the year, 2025. We are working with many healthcare organisations to create change that lasts. We are also leveraging our relationships with our supply chain operatives, suppliers, customers etc to increase sustainability. We are a member of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council which also shows our commitment to this cause and we have many strategies in place to achieve our goals.
