Sustainability of single-use flexible plastic bags in healthcare / pharmacy

According to the World Health Organization, the pharmaceutical industry generates over 300 million tons of plastic waste each year. 50 percent of this waste comes from single-use applications. Although most of this waste contains valuable materials, which are suited for recycling most of it is being incinerated.

“The R-ladder framework (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Repurpose, Recycle, Recover, Dispose) offers a structured approach to waste management and our believe is that we should strive towards the higher steps in the R-ladder whenever possible”, says Marieke Havermans a packaging innovation and sustainability expert at TNO.

“For all other packaging sectors apart from Healthcare and Pharmacy there is EU legislation stimulating circularity in packaging. Directives like the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and Single-Use Plastics Directive focus on design for recycling and the use of recycled materials into packaging. It is foreseen that the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors will soon need to comply as well”, says Havermans.

Therefore some partners in the pharmaceutical value chain have partnered up with knowledge institutes like TNO to find recycling pathways for single-use plastic bags in pharmaceutical facilities, aiming for sustainable end-of-life solutions, with potential applications for similar healthcare waste streams.