Environmental Impact of the Pharmaceutical Packaging

Abstract: The pharmaceutical industry is influenced by many aspects and actors that make this industry one of the most complex ones. Packaging is probably the cheapest element that involves a pharmaceutical but it is also a necessary element. In a moment that global warming is topical, how important are the CO2 emissions associated to the pharmaceutical packaging and how much attention the industry puts to reduce them will be studied along this project. Evaluating objectively how harmful is the packaging and comparing results with the perception that companies have will provide the possibility to contrast and determine if the industry have a correct perception about their environmental performance. Two main tools will be used in order to make this comparison: on one hand, the packaging scorecard that determines what aspects are more important for the packaging designers and provides also information about how the companies see their own performance. On the other hand, the use of environmental software and data obtained empirically that enables to determine the real impact of the packaging. Considering each tool separately, some useful conclusion that complement the final comparison will be extracted. Thereby, after calculations and analysis, it is possible to say that the 56% of the industry have amisperception about their performance, and the other 44% have a correct image about themselves. In addition, in general terms, the environmental aspect is placed in second level of importance having more relevance aspects like the machinability of the package or the security that it provides. Finally, interesting results have been extracted comparing companies attending to different criteria. For instance, it is possible to say that small companies produce pharmaceuticals with lower CO2 emissions per dose of medicament, or that generic producers obtain a lower fill rate performance per package than non generic producers. As conclusions, the environmental impact of the packaging is not a priority when designing it. There are many reasons that makes it like that: a tremendous restrictive legal framework, a little impact compared with other residues produced during the manufacturing of the pharmaceutical, a little production of scraps compared with other daily wastes, etc. It is a combination of tradeoffs that makes packaging one of the most difficult elements to design between the involved ones in the supply chain.