Sustainability Stretches across the Globe

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Efforts to achieve sustainability are stretching across the globe, and they are even influencing pharmaceutical packaging. But for a highly regulated industry that demands material traceability and consistency—and that typically uses material combinations that are nearly impossible to recycle—how can drug manufacturers achieve sustainability?

At Pharmapack 2009, Nina Goodrich, Director Innovation, Alcan Global Pharmaceutical Packaging (Montreal), will explain how pharmaceutical packagers can move toward sustainability in her presentation, “Sustainability: Creating the Path Forward for Pharmaceutical Packaging.” In the context of her discussion, she will introduce attendees to Alcan Packaging's proprietary new educational board game, EcoChallenge.

To understand how to achieve sustainability with pharmaceutical packaging, "it is critical to go beyond what materials are used to form the package and look at the role the package plays in the lifecycle of the product, including the end-use," says Goodrich.

To demonstrate, Goodrich will introduce ASSET, the Alcan Sustainability Stewardship Evaluation Tool. ASSET is Alcan’s lifecycle-based product stewardship tool designed to help understand packaging alternatives with respect to sustainability considerations. The assessment of different products is based on quantitative environmental criteria (ISO 14040) and qualitative criteria for social and long-term economic considerations. Outputs include green house gas emissions, water use, waste, and other ecoindicators. More.

Pharmapack 2009 will take place at La Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, at Charlie Parker Hall on Jean Jaurès Avenue. The two-day Pharma-focused packaging event will take place January 21–22, 2009.

La Grande Halle is located in the revitalized northeast sector of Paris, Parc de la Villette. The park is reportedly Paris’s youngest yet largest park, offering visitors further enrichment through museums, music halls, science exhibits, and expansive gardens. Originally built in the 1800s to house cattle, the striking glass-and-cast-iron setting of La Grand Halle now hosts exhibitions and concerts. Nearby hotels will honor special rates for the show, as will others throughout the city. More.

The CleanFlex product line from Bischof + Klein GmbH & Co. KG, exhibiting in Booth A24, conforms to the particular requirements of the pharmaceutical, medical device, and other related industries for flexible cleanroom packaging, including those of high-containment systems. According to the company, the use of CleanFlex packaging helps ensure a high-level of product safety and quality throughout the whole cleanroom chain, from raw material reception, production, and transportation to arrival at customer premises.

The CleanFlex product range encompasses flat and tubular films, premanufactured primary and secondary packaging, single- and multiple-ply bags, laminates, and high-barrier packaging. Extrusion, printing, conversion, and all further steps are consolidated and take place under Class 5 cleanroom conditions according to DIN EN ISO 14644-1 at rest and GMPs. More.

For a complete list of Pharmapack exhibitors, click here.