The Circularity in Primary Pharmaceutical Packaging Accelerator- CiPPPA initiative has been launched by the UK so as to develop and execute strategies when it comes to end-of-use recycling of medicinal devices as well as pharmaceutical packaging.
CiPPPA happens to be a collaborative non-profit initiative that connects stakeholders throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain. It is managed by a steering committee, which has representatives coming from within the pharmaceutical as well as healthcare sectors who happen to be committed in terms of creating a future in which used packaging from meter dose inhalers- MDIs, blisters, and injectables can be easily recycled.
At present, the health sector goes on to face immense challenges with regards to recycling primary pharmaceutical packaging- PPP, says a press release from CiPPPA.
The present regulations happen to be strict in terms of upholding the safety, efficacy, as well as regulatory compliance of every active medicinal product, however, they have not been able to consider the environmental effects that are long-term in nature. The fact of the matter is that PPP recycling isn’t a part of mainstream consumer recycling because of the problematic materials which are involved, hence resulting in much broader environmental, financial, as well as regulatory obstacles.
In order to address these sorts of challenges, CiPPPA has gone on to establish three action task forces that are focused on coming up with packaging solutions in terms of blisters, inhalers, and injectables. Every task force is led by experts in the subject who make use of organizational schemes as well as industry collaboration in order to drive the initiative forward.
It isn’t an overstatement when we say that the task forces happen to be critical, CiPPPA states, when it comes to bolstering collaborative efforts and at the same time also utilizing member organizations’ expertise and resources in order to tackle the challenging environmental challenges across the gamut of pharmaceutical packaging.
There happen to be leading pharmaceutical companies, in addition to global over-the-counter brands, and also healthcare systems like the National Health Service, which happen to be closely involved along with the initiative, hence signaling a united industry commitment when it comes to influencing societal as well as cross-industry change for the environment and the community benefit.1
According to Global Sustainability Lead and Chairman at Honeywell, Duncan Flack, having previously sold-out thousands of tons of blister pack materials in the UK, and knowing that nothing was going to get recycled, he became frustrated due to the lack of sustainable solutions when it came to the packs’ end-of-life1.
Due to the founding and establishment of CiPPPA, Duncan says that they are able to deliver upgraded end-of-life for blister packs and also related pharmaceutical packaging like metered-dose inhalers as well as injectables. The leading pharmaceutical companies’ willingness and the support of the global OTC brands for this initiative have been incredible, and since CiPPPA has grown, so has their capacity when it comes to influencing societal as well as cross-industry change.
Says vice president of sustainability, GSK1, Claire Lund, that they are proud to be a founding member of CiPPPA and have joined forces with partners throughout the sector so as to address sustainable packaging of medicines as well as vaccines. She added that they have ambitious company objectives when it comes to climate and nature, and by way of collaborative initiatives like CiPPPA, they believe that a positive impact can be made through the rising recycling of packaging, hence in a way helping to protect the health of people as well as the planet.
Reference
- Circularity in Primary Pharmaceutical Packaging Accelerator (CiPPPA) Launched to Take Collaborative Action on Pharmaceutical Packaging. Press Release. Apr. 24, 2024.
