Defining the Future of Sustainability with Recycle-Ready Packaging Solutions

In the United States alone, 85% of the plastic produced exclusively for packaging ends up in landfills. It’s a major contributor to the eco-crisis, and a major blow to the planet.¹

Consumers are driving change by making intentional purchases of products in sustainable packaging. Nearly half view packaging as “the most important sustainability initiative” for brands.²

It’s incumbent upon manufacturers and retailers to rise to the occasion. Providing sustainable packaging solutions is clearly a consumer expectation and, even more so, a corporate social responsibility to the inhabitants of planet earth.

These are all reasonable and respectable goals. However, there are some challenges along the way to meeting them. Packaging sustainability is currently a fluid concept as the industry continues to work toward consensus on terminology, expectations, and solutions.

Leaning into the space doesn’t mean surrendering to the confusion or delaying decisions. Instead, manufacturers are best served to partner with a packaging supplier that’s future-focused on the evolution of sustainable packaging yet committed to finding solutions that work for today’s recyclability challenges.

Recyclable vs. Recycle-ready Packaging

Perhaps one of the most confusing aspects of sustainable packaging is understanding the current terminology, for example, the distinction between recyclable vs. recycle-ready. The terms sound similar but they are significantly different.

Since recycling programs and standards currently differ throughout the world, defining the terms is currently an exercise in general guidance instead of factual claim. Broadly think of it as “recyclable” referring to packaging that passes the standards for collection, sorting, and recycling as it currently exists in a specific region. On the other hand, “recycle-ready” packaging is intentionally designed and produced to enable recycling in certain streams based on material choices and global guidance.

Packaging material may fall into one of the two categories, but there is no guarantee it meets the specifications of the recycling programs that consumers have access to in each market/geography. This and the prevalence of greenwashing underscore how and why the onus of packaging recyclability and sustainability ultimately lies with the product manufacturer.

Recycle-ready Materials and the Future of Pharmaceutical Packaging

Recycle-ready materials are key components in many current initiatives, and sustainable pharmaceutical packaging trends suggest an even greater reliance on recycle-ready packaging moving forward.

As such, pharmaceutical manufacturers may be at a decided advantage in terms of pivoting in response to emerging sustainability legislation, laws, and consumer preferences on a global level. Working with an experienced packaging partner is essential for balancing the competing priorities of eco-consciousness and the complexities of recycle-ready packaging that addresses carbon footprint, emissions, and other enviro-action.

A First in Recycle-ready Blister Packaging

Sustainable pharmaceutical packaging trends suggest a circular economy built around and increasingly reliant upon recyclable and recycle-ready innovations.

Amcor continues to broaden its portfolio of these sought-after materials, and also blaze new trails in recycle-ready sustainable solutions.

The award-winning Amcor® AmSky™ Blister System is the world’s first low-carbon-footprint, recycle-ready, high-density Polyethylene (HDPE)-based thermoform blister packaging.

AmSky™ is beneficial to pharmaceutical and consumer health manufacturers because the blister packaging system is:

• PVC- and aluminum-free, making it recycle-ready in PE film and rigid HDPE recycling streams
• Compliant with the EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy
• Recognized by the Association of Plastics Recyclers as compatible with the polyethylene film recycling stream through Critical Guidance Recognition
• Produced using fewer natural resources, reducing the packaging carbon footprint by up to 70% compared to PVC/Alu solutions when accounting for 100% recyclability at end-of-life
• Compatible with existing packaging equipment

SOURCES
¹U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The U.S. Recycling System | US EPA, Undated
²World Economic Forum, Top 25 recycling facts and statistics for 2022, June 22, 2022