Be ready for 2025: emerging trends and developments in packaging

Sustainable solutions for sustainable business

Sustainability matters – to your company, to consumers and to the planet. Use of recyclable and reusable materials as well as eco-friendly practices across manufacturing, supply and storage contribute to a lower carbon footprint and enhance your brand reputation. Our experts can work with you to ensure you meet all pharmaceutical safety and quality requirements while also reducing your impact on the environment – keeping you competitive, lowering emissions and supporting circularity.

We work tirelessly to continually improve the sustainability of our packaging solutions, meaning we can offer a range of options to not only meet pharmaceutical standards of quality and product integrity, but which also keep you ahead of industry and governing body regulations. Eco-friendly pharma packaging is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s become essential. Our range of sustainable packaging materials empowers you to meet your environmental targets without compromising on quality, and our expert team is on-hand to find the most appropriate, affordable system for you.

Case study: from plastic waste to 100% recyclable

As a leading supplier of life science research tools, Abcam has a global presence – and a global environmental impact. An audit revealed that they were producing over 8,280 kilos of PVC plastic waste per year, giving them a clear target -and opportunity- to dramatically reduce waste. Craig Allen, Swiftpak’s Head of Innovation, created an INNOVATIVE bespoke packaging solution with multiple benefits for Abcam:

• Elimination of eight tonnes of plastic waste every year
• Fully recyclable packaging, compatible with existing paper recycling systems
• Versatile packaging design enables streamlined packing operations and greater efficiency
• All pharmaceutical industry standards and regulations upheld

Regulatory changes

Sustainability is also at the heart of the EU directive Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which lays out targets for waste management, recyclability and renewable energy use by 2025 and 2030. This directive requires member states to take steps to reduce packaging waste and minimise the environmental impact of packaging. This can be achieved through limiting the weight and volume of packaging and focusing on more sustainable, recyclable or recoverable materials.

Regulatory standards are also set to rise worldwide with regards to labelling, serialisation and tamper-proofing. This helps to ensure patient safety and enables distributors to act promptly and effectively against counterfeiting and tampering, identifying and tracking specific shipments easily and securely. As innovators in tamper-evident packaging and anti-counterfeiting measures we can offer expert guidance to help you navigate these evolving regulations and ensure you remain fully compliant into 2025 and beyond.

Get smart

Smart packaging has evolved swiftly in recent years, providing end-to-end traceability – another key component of dynamic global standards for pharmaceuticals and packaging. With digital integration you can track every part of every shipment, ensuring continuous, secure supply chain fulfilment. This way you can demonstrate that you are actively working to prevent counterfeiting and tampering, and this not only supports patient safety (another core competence required by global regulatory updates) but also means your customers can rely on getting the right medication to the right people at the right time - and in impeccable condition.

Smart and interactive packaging also drives efficiency, allowing for smoother transit operations within established distribution systems. Pinpoint accuracy throughout the manufacture, distribution and delivery chain puts you in control and gives you a 360 viewpoint of every batch and shipment.

Case study: innovation in temperature monitoring

Swiftpak offers a wide array of temperature monitoring solutions that give you the power to deliver temperature-sensitive medicinal products in perfect condition, every time.

Our proprietary technologies have been especially designed for biopharma, biotech and medical products to ensure they are kept within a specific temperature range to preserve their quality and safety, protecting patients from potential issues from mishandled medicines.

Next-gen customisation

Packaging needs to adjust to optimise your product, which is why our experts work in partnership with you to design the most appropriate, eco-friendly and cost-effective pharma packaging solution that meets your needs, your customers’ needs and the requirements of MHRA, FDA and EU regulations. With the rise of personalised medical treatment on a worldwide scale, demand is higher than ever for reliable and compliant medication supply that keeps pace with the move towards individualised medicine.

We can also create custom-made packaging solutions designed to your unique specifications. Talk to one of our team to learn more about highly bespoke packaging and how our collaborative working processes can make you stand out from competitors.

Your needs, our ingenuity

You’re the expert in your product, and know exactly what it needs. We’re here to learn from you and bring our 45 years of experience, materials science expertise and flexible business practices to create cutting-edge solutions that meet those needs, enabling you to adhere to ever-more stringent guidelines and ensure your product is delivered securely and intact.

Start a conversation

Whether you have a particular solution in mind or want to explore your options, get in touch with our experts to discuss your needs. We can advise you every step of the way and support your company to achieve more - with innovation, exemplary compliance and intelligent, efficient packaging systems.