Körber monomaterial packaging solutions

Toploading packaging machines by Dividella Solutions, combined with advanced Körber Pharma Materials by Rondo Solutions, form the key elements to an integrated monomaterials offer from Körber Business Area Pharma.

Körber has been a pioneer in the development of card and paper based monomaterial packaging solutions since the 1970s. Since then, the world in general and the pharmaceutical industry has woken up to the threat posed by plastics and the need to move to less polluting and more sustainable packaging.

Moving away from plastics

The facts about plastics consumption and pollution are beyond alarming. Plastics were first developed in the late 19^th century and entered general use from the 1900s onwards. Since 1905, it’s estimated just over nine billion tonnes of plastics have been produced worldwide, but fully half of that originated since 2005. Production has increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to a projected 448 million tons by 2025 and is expected to double again by 2050.

The main problem is that most plastics do not biodegrade so that almost every piece ever produced remains in place either as fragments or lurking particles (microplastics), polluting ecosystems, including the oceans, and entering the food chain.

Every year, some eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations – the equivalent of dumping five garbage bags full of plastic waste on every foot of coastline around the world. These plastics not only kill animals but decimate coral reefs, and damage human health as they break down into microplastic particles that are now prevalent right across the food chain.

In response to rising consumer alarm and regulatory pressures, all the world’s leading pharma companies are committed to radically reducing their plastics use. Novartis is committed to becoming plastics (and water) neutral by 2030, Johnson & Johnson to using only reusable, recyclable or compostable plastics by 2025, and Merck already seeking to use as much recycled content as possible and to minimize package size and material use wherever possible.

Körber’s commitment to monomaterials

The Körber Group companies Dividella AG and Rondo AG have been a pioneer of monomaterial packaging solutions for more than 40 years with highly capable NeoTOP toploading packaging machinery that follow a modular design approach to allow packaging lines to be expanded or reconfigured at will. Together they devise innovative card and paper-based packaging formats that use compact, inexpensive and sustainable materials to create sophisticated packages that provide full protection to fragile parenteral products while remaining easy for end-users to open and access.

Körber champions 100% monomaterials packaging solutions both for environmental reasons but also for their business benefits in delivering low lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Total Cost of Package (TCP).

Monomaterial packaging has considerable impact on many TCO factors, including material costs, reduction of weight and volume in storage and shipping and simplicity of manufacture.

In material savings alone, it has been calculated that for annual quantity of 2.5 million packs, costs for monomaterial toploading package are USD 250,000, compared with USD 600,000 for plastic blister packaging.

TCP savings extend onwards into energy cost in packaging installation, particularly for high heating and compressed air demands for film forming and sealing.

In summary, monomaterial packaging benefits include:

• Versatile packaging format to accept a multitude of drug delivery products (vials, syringes, pens, auto injectors, etc.)
• Adaptable for fully automated packaging from small lots to high volumes
• Lower per piece package costs compared to plastic blister
• Reduction in overall package volume for lower transport and storage costs
• 100% recyclability
• Fully compliant packaging designs
• Tamper evident package sealing
• High product protection
• User friendly opening and closing
• Reclosable packaging
• “Clean” appearance of product after opening

Resources

Click on Körber’s Dividella Solution for monomaterial packaging for further information.