Eco-conscious packaging: A strategic opportunity

Larger pharma companies are applying sustainable practices and eco-conscious materials to packaging and labelling, leading to positive environmental outcomes, increasing operational efficiency and improving consumer perception. But wooing environmentally-conscious consumers often needs a sizeable capex, which could be a hurdle for pharma MSMEs. Viveka Roychowdhury reports that MSMEs can maximise this strategic opportunity once they identify areas which can improve efficiency through optimisation and harmonisation, at reasonable costs

- Viveka Roychowdhury

For patients, medicines are the difference between life and death, a good day or a painful one. But the onus of delivering on this promise rests on the product pack.

Ironically, the part of the product most important to ensuring its worth is worthless and even considered an ecological burden after its job is done.

The impact of packaging is felt only when it does not do its job and therefore pharmaceutical companies have traditionally invested quite a bit on product packs, also using them as part of their branding strategy.

But with increasing pressure on pharma companies to reduce their carbon footprint, the fundamentals of pharma product packaging are being re-written.

As per a Future Market Insights report, the global sustainable pharma packaging market size is projected to grow from US$ 96 billion in 2024 to US$ 410 billion by 2034, reflecting a 15.6 per cent CAGR.

The report titled, Sustainable Pharmaceutical Packaging Market Outlook (2024 to 2034), lists trends like switching to renewably sourced compostable materials which spontaneously decompose into organic molecules, decreasing waste and having a minimal negative environmental impact.

The rise of robotics and automation integration in packaging processes and developing modular and reconfigurable packaging solutions are also mentioned in the report as are trends like investigations into edible pharmaceutical packaging materials derived from natural substances as a sustainable alternative.

Shivshankar S.R, CEO, ACG Packaging Materials says that pharma companies can look at a number of measures to reduce their carbon footprint, which could include using single polymer plastic when it comes to packaging materials and reducing overall packaging size.