4 Waste Management Solutions From a Healthcare Packaging Perspective

About 25% of the 14,000 tons of daily waste generated in U.S. healthcare facilities is plastic, including packaging.1 Similarly, an itemized waste audit of one Dutch hospital revealed that 50% of the facility’s waste was disposable packaging.2

The global nature of healthcare packaging challenges – and the adverse impact on emissions and the environmental footprint – has spurred action within the healthcare industry. Many manufacturers and packaging suppliers have pledged commitment to more sustainable packaging practices and healthcare packaging recycling.

Sustainability initiatives are underway around the world. One such focus for medical packaging professionals is providing manufacturers with solutions for helping with packaging waste management. At the heart of these solutions are four ways to promote strategic use of materials to reduce waste, emissions, and the carbon footprint.

Minimizing the impact of medical packaging on waste streams — and ultimately the planet — is a concerted effort. Partnering with a packaging supplier with the appropriate experience and that shares a passion for sustainability is essential to successfully implementing an actionable plan that addresses ways to:

1. Size and gauge packaging to optimize protection and safety

Safety and protection are always top priorities for medical packaging, and sometimes erring on the side of caution can lead to over-engineering. Examining the requirements of the packaging may lead to verification that it has been designed appropriately for the application. Conversely, this exercise could open opportunities for more sustainable, cost-efficient approaches, such as downgauging or right-sizing to remove materials from the waste stream without compromising packaging integrity or patient safety.

2. Evaluate recycling opportunities and life cycle assessment

Working with a packaging supplier to innovate and collaborate around alternative solutions to reduce packaging carbon footprint presents several opportunities, including responsibly sourced materials and recycle-ready packaging.

As more manufacturers and packaging providers commit to improved sustainability and innovation in the healthcare industry, the future of recycling continues to evolve. One example of Amcor’s commitment to more sustainable healthcare packaging is through being an active member of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC). This council focuses on collaboration across the healthcare and waste management industries to improve recycling of healthcare products and packaging.

Amcor has leaned into the technology of recycling best practices, demonstrating a focus on the future of sustainable packaging in order to reduce complexity, waste, and the overall carbon footprint.

The Amcor ASSET™ life cycle assessment tool helps manufacturers understand the environmental impact of packaging. Key factors are objectively evaluated in the tool, such as solvent reduction and elimination, zero waste to landfill, energy reduction, and water conservation.

ASSET™ results are driven by data that points to lower carbon footprint materials and processes, leading to more sustainable solutions for current challenges and continuous improvement cycles for future packaging.

3. Optimize the supply chain

Choosing suppliers with solid supply chain business continuity strategies in place provides protection. However, culling out those with fewer capabilities in sustainable packaging — from sourcing more sustainable materials to managing waste streams and recycling best practices — ensures a supply chain better optimizes for eco-friendliness.

By partnering with suppliers that offer more sustainable or recycle-ready materials, the overall circularity of healthcare packaging will continue to improve.

Increasingly, there are opportunities to partner with national waste collection and disposal service companies that specialize in healthcare waste. These companies focus on safe sustainability for all levels of medical waste, including packaging, and can help develop strategies to divert waste from landfills.

4. Switch to more sustainable packaging materials

In making sustainability-first choices, it is common for medical manufacturers to be hampered by stringent industry regulations that lean toward options that are less eco-friendly.

However, designing healthcare packaging for recycling is no longer a luxury; it is a need. Working with proven packaging suppliers is advantageous for manufacturers, as packagers are finding solutions that bridge the gap between safety and sustainability.

As a global packaging leader, Amcor continues to develop a portfolio of recycle-ready solutions utilizing materials that are designed to be compatible with existing recycling streams instead of being removed as waste. For example, AmSky™ is the first-of-its-kind thermoform plastic blister High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)-based packaging system that contains no PVC or aluminum, making it recycle-ready in PE film and rigid HDPE recycling streams.

Amcor’s EcoGuard™ SureForm and SureForm Pro ICE® Forming Films provide a recycle-ready solution for a wide variety of HFFS applications. EcoGuard™ SureForm covers healthcare products with less stringent requirements for puncture and abrasion resistance. SureForm Pro ICE® provides a recycle-ready solution for healthcare applications that require high resistance to puncture and abrasion.

SOURCES
¹AMA Journal of Ethics, How Should US Health Care Lead Global Change in Plastic Waste Disposal? | Journal of Ethics. October 2022
²Avery Dennison, 4 ways to reduce healthcare waste with sustainable packaging | Avery Dennison | LPM, Undated