Glenn Petrie, commercial director – healthcare, Plastic Ingenuity, explores the challenges and successes of transitioning to a circular economy.
Plastic Ingenuity
The demand for sustainable packaging is growing in every industry, but the challenges inherent in the protection and shipping of medical devices are assuredly greater than most. The first and most obvious reason is that medical devices significantly aid or even save lives, so their intact arrival is of paramount importance. The second hurdle is that many medical devices are delicate, high-precision apparatuses and require packaging that ensures instrumentation arrives completely free of damage or displacement.
Neither of these prerequisites can be compromised when creating more sustainable packaging. What’s more, the overengineering of packaging that was done in the past is no longer acceptable as it typically required more materials to be used. Thankfully, the tension that exists between the demand for sustainable packaging and the need for that packaging to still perform has been met with innovative solutions in structural integrity. Solutions that have managed to reduce materials and incorporate more recycled materials for greater circularity and sustainability.
The factors driving the design
Some of the most significant influences in the healthcare industry are group purchasing organisations (GPOs) and the environmentally preferred procurement (EPP) policies they insist on. More and more, contract tenders are including EPPs, necessitating MedTech manufacturers make the sustainability of their devices and packaging a primary goal.
Organisations have also been established to help direct the process of creating packaging that’s made to be recovered. The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) has developed the Design Guidance for Healthcare Plastics Recycling, a resource to aid manufacturers in meeting circularity goals. Meanwhile, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are helping to shape these efforts by managing overarching frameworks and resources to help keep the greater industry on track.
In addition, healthcare service providers (HSPs) are endeavouring to be zero or reduced-waste operations sooner rather than later. This requires responsible recycling of end-of-life medical device packaging. While international operations must abide by stringent global legislation, as well.
What’s more, a high-level look is being taken of packaging systems in general. Holistic evaluations are assessing where material reductions make sense while still ensuring the structural integrity of the package.
The innovation providing the solutions
Newly developed advanced recycling techniques and the mass balance process that tracks recycled content used in manufacturing have medical device makers excited about the possibilities.
Advanced recycling, sometimes called chemical recycling, is a collection of innovative methods designed to break down or remove the impurities in hard-to-recycle materials. Purification, depolymerisation and conversion reduce a polymer to a precursor and/or remove colorants and additives.
The mass balance process provides chain-of-custody proof that records the recycled materials used throughout the manufacturing of a particular product. The recycled plastic is tracked and then balanced with certified recycled content in end products.
The proof is in the plastic (or lack thereof)
The following case study illustrates how a sophisticated medical device required an innovative solution to provide protection against handling damage while also reducing material usage and improving the packaging’s ability to be recycled. Beckman Coulter Diagnostics partnered with Plastic Ingenuity to engineer a custom thermoformed package to protect the consumables of their new automated diagnostic machine. An extremely sensitive pipette tip needed comprehensive protection for the device to function as intended.
Extensive research and development were required in a process that took several years. Beckman Coulter and Plastic Ingenuity collaborated on structural design features to both the base and the lid to withstand drop tests. Not only was the packaging strengthened and the user experience improved, but a reduction in the materials was accomplished. Ultimately, 58% less plastic was used, 255,735 pounds of material was saved per million parts, and 371 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent was reduced per million parts.
Transitioning to a circular economy is particularly challenging for the healthcare industry. However, strategic design engineering fuelled by continued innovation and combined with collaborative partnerships can help the sector realise its sustainability objectives in both the short and long term.