The critical role of packaging in the pharmaceutical industry cannot be overstated. It safeguards the integrity of medicines, ensures their safe delivery to patients, and significantly impacts their shelf life. In Europe, blister packaging is preferred, with rigid PVC (polyvinyl chloride) as the most used base material.

Why PVC-based packaging dominates the pharmaceutical sector

PVC alone or in combination with polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), aluminium, chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE), or oriented polyamide nylon (OPA) holds a market share of almost 100% in medical blister packaging. There are several reasons for this dominance:

Low permability

PVC has good chemical resistance and low permeability to oils, fats, and flavoring ingredients. When combined with PVDC, gas and moisture permeability is reduced significantly compared to uncoated PVC. This coating is critical for maintaining the integrity and shelf life of pharmaceutical products. Other coatings, like PVC/CTFE, offer even lower water-vapor permeability. For medications requiring the utmost protection, a combination of OPA/aluminium/PVC is chosen.

High safety

PVC is an inert, non-toxic material. When formulated for pharmaceutical applications, it does not interact with medications, ensuring their safety and efficacy. With decades of use in pharmaceutical packaging, PVC has a proven safety profile and meets various international regulatory standards for drug packaging.

Excellent thermoformability

PVC's ease of processing into various shapes makes it highly adaptable for different medication forms. When used for blisters, PVC is formulated without plasticisers. Despite the lack of softening agents, the plastic is highly flexible.

Compatibility with other materials

PVC can be easily laminated or coated with other materials to enhance its barrier properties or for other functional reasons. For instance, a layer of PVDC can be added to improve the barrier against moisture and gases.

Cost-efficiency

In contrary to other polymers, PVC is primarily made from chlorine derived from table salt. PVC thus consumes less fossil-based primary energy and is more cost-efficient than alternatives.

Recyclability

Rigid PVC can be recycled several times without loss of technical properties. The VinylPlus® PharmPack partnership is working on solutions to recycle PVC-based blister packaging mechanically.

Environmental advantages of PVC blister packaging

Medication delivery differs between the regions of the world. In Europe, for instance, around 80% of all pharmaceutical oral solid dosages are delivered in blister packs, whereas bottles are preferred in the United States. It is well established that blister packaging offer several benefits in terms of contamination avoidance, correct dosing, improved child safety and senior friendliness.

When choosing PVC as the base material for blisters, the climate also benefits. Studies show PVC has a low carbon footprint compared to alternatives:

Llano Martinez (2012)

  • PVC blisters had the lowest climate impact compared to alu/alu blisters, aluminium bottles, glass bottles, plastic bottles, inhalers, and satchets.
  • The climate impact of satchets is almost 4x higher than PVC.

Pedrosa de Oliveira et al. (2021)

  • Found that "aluminum is more harmful to the environment than PVC, due to the high emission of CO₂ during its production."

Bassani et al. (2022)

  • In their life cycle assessment of three types of pharmaceutical packaging (blisters, bottles, and satchets) for four different medications, the authors found that "PVC is the forming film that presented the lowest environmental impacts, followed by PVC/PVDC and OPA/Alu/PVC."
  • Across all four scenarios, PVC-based solutions have the least impact on global warming, abiotic depletion, acidification, ozone depletion, and eutrophication.
  • For bottles, HDPE bottles with PP caps and brown glass bottles with PP caps were chosen, while paper/alu/PE and alu/resin were chosen for satchets.
Comparative carbon footprint of medication delivery

PVC blister packaging in a circular economy 

Leading PVC film manufacturers, recyclers and VinylPlus have come together in the joint project VinylPlus PharmPack for the sustainable development of PVC pharma blisters packaging. The aim is to demonstrate the recyclability and sustainability of pharma blisters made of aluminium and PVC in the context of the European Packaging Directive 94/62/EG and national laws.

Several small-scale tests for the separation of PVC from aluminium have been successfully carried out by Fraunhofer IVV. Laboratory tests carried out on the produced recyclates at Perlen Packaging and Liveo Research yielded promising results. Larger-scale trials have been scheduled at Fraunhofer IVV, following the installation of a dedicated pilot plant. The rPVC produced in the pilot plant will then be further tested by Perlen and Liveo to verify whether the quality obtained is suitable for use in new products.

PVC has the lowest cost per dose of medicine

PVC blister packaging, made from cost-efficient PVC resin, offers the lowest cost per dose of medicine. In contrast, solutions predominantly using aluminium, such as OPA/aluminium/PVC, are nearly three times more expensive than packaging made entirely from PVC.