Need for circular solutions

Circular solutions for plastic in medical devices and medical packaging, medical plastics, have until recently been out of scope given that such plastic waste material can be biologically and chemically contaminated. But design for recycling and decontamination processes are now being developed to overcome these hurdles. Closed loop collection and recycling of medical plastic waste can be an option, but system development is needed.

Large volumes of valuable “Post Consumer Recyclate”, PCR, material streams will become available to the market once industrial processes are available. The market need for high quality PCR materials for products and packaging in all sectors will increase in the years to come. It is out most important to continue development and industrialization to minimize medical plastic waste ending up for incineration or landfilling.

Challenges

There are several challenges in recycling medical waste:

1. Contamination: Medical waste can be contaminated with biological materials, making it hard to clean and recycle.
2. Hard to recycle materials: Thermoset materials are hard to recycle as they have irreversible chemical bonds (e.g. Silicon, Epoxy, Polyurethane). Polymers like PVC, Nitrile rubber, Polystyrene face other recycling challenges requiring special processes.
3. Packaging material composition: Medical packaging often encompass layers of different materials, which are hard to separate for recycling.
4. Regulations: Strict rules ensure safety and effectiveness, limiting the use of recycled materials in new medical packaging.
5. Infrastructure: Many healthcare facilities and hospitals lack the systems needed to sort and collect recyclable materials.
6. Public Perception: People may think recycled medical materials are unsafe, affecting their acceptance.
7. Cost: Recycling medical packaging can be expensive due to the need for special processes.

Despite the many challenges, there are ongoing efforts to improve the recyclability of medical plastics. For example, the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) and their industrial members are working on developing advanced recycling technologies and improving recycling infrastructure within healthcare settings. The main message is that all healthcare plastic should be safely and effectively recycled to become a valuable resource for the future.

PPWR

Primary medical packaging will be excluded from the first deadline requirements for recycled content in the new proposed packaging and packaging waste regulation (PPWR), still it must be recyclable (in line with required Design for Recycling-DfR- requirements defined in the regulation). These rules will become obligatory in the future, and thereof it is important to understand how medical packaging can fit to existing DfR guidelines. Design of medical packaging must take into consideration both the new PPWR as well as the regulations for packaging of Pharmaceuticals or Medical Devices.

What does this mean for medical packaging? It means that all packaging will be redesigned if necessary to be aligned with new DfR guidelines. In this process the requirements of the packaged goods will still be a number one priority, but sustainable and circular solutions for packaging will have to be considered.

Today companies already can introduce themselves with existing tools published by RecyClass1 and CEFLEX2 as well as some guidelines focused specifically on the medical packaging. For the medical device manufacturer, it is beneficial to evaluate their product packaging in line with RecyClass to detect possible incompatibilities with recycling that can be resolved and re-designed providing competitive advantage on the market.

Partner up with Norner

Norner has been a trusted development partner to companies in the whole plastic value chain for many years. For your innovation project we might be the partner you are looking for. Our services encompass polymer material expertise, processing pilots, testing laboratories, mechanical and chemical recycling pilots, Recyclass certification body.

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