32 CHEMICALS KNOWLEDGE HUB Issue 2 / October 2025 As part of ambitious sustainability targets pharmaceutical companies now publish annual ESG reports outlining efforts to cut emissions, recycle packaging, and reduce water use. Yet these pledges are coming under sharper scrutiny with investors, regulators, and healthcare systems asking not what companies promise but what they can demonstrate. In particular packaging and manufacturing, where the industry’s environmental impact is most visible, remains a source of conflict between public commitments and operational delivery. The challenge now is no longer drafting persuasive campaigns but presenting tangible results without undermining safety or margins. Healthcare accounts for nearly 5% of global emissions as organisations such as NHS England commit to carbon neutrality by 2045. Suppliers too are required to work towards net zero by 20301. For pharma and the packaging and manufacturing activities that underpin the supply chain, its environmental promises have never been more in the spotlight. Packaging innovation under pressure Blister packs are perhaps a prime example of the industry’s most visible environmental challenge. While the PVC–aluminium laminates dominate tablet packaging and ensure sterility and tamper resistance, they are proving extremely difficult to recycle. The challenge has given rise to a number of alternatives. Südpack Medica’s PharmaGuard blister, made from monomaterial polypropylene, claims a carbon footprint nearly half that of traditional formats and can be sorted into existing recycling streams. Others are pledging to move away from PVC/foil combinations with companies making statements about removing PVC from their packaging by around 2030.2 Innovation is being supported by policy with EU lawmakers backing legislation requiring all packaging in the bloc to be recyclable by 2030. 3 The European Commission has also proposed binding targets for recycled content. What was once voluntary is now a compliance obligation. However, the transition raises numerous challenges. New formats must meet barrier standards, run reliably on high-speed filling machines and win approval across jurisdictions. Even the best-designed recyclable blister risks incineration if national collection and recovery systems are ill-equipped to process it. There are of course product compromises. While lightweighting reduces plastic volumes it can reduce shelf life. Bioplastics lower fossil inputs but increase cost and supply concerns. In reality, packaging engineers have sustainability at the forefront, while having one eye on meeting some of the strictest regulatory conditions of any industry, a challenge that slows the pace of change. SUSTAINABILITY
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