The Pharmapack 2023 expo took place on 1 February in Paris, where the Innovation awards were held. Rotor Print was the winner in the Eco-design category with their Recyclable blister for the pharmaceutical market. The blister was developed by Rotor Print, making the Spanish company one of the few companies worldwide with this innovation.
Innovation awards
Pharmapack is a worldwide expo for pharmaceutical packaging companies with over 300 expositors and representatives from more than 75 countries. Since 1997 are organizing the Innovation Awards, which pretends to meet in a unique event all the innovations from pharmaceutical packaging.
Rotor Print, a unique Spanish company with a recyclable blister, and now winner of the Eco-design award.
The Spanish company Rotor Print presented the recyclable blister last November in Frankfurt, at the CPhI. The presentation done in November placed Rotor Print as a unique company in Spain with this solution and as one of the few companies worldwide with a recyclable blister.
A few months later, the Rotor Print recyclable blister was awarded the Eco-design. It's an award recognising products and solutions which prioritize recyclability, environmental awareness, and a reduced carbon footprint.
What is Eco-design?
Eco-design means that each phase of a product has taken the environmental impact into account. For that, the first step is in the designing phase, where it might take its structure into account to preserve the product correctly, as well as simplify its usability, and furthermore, ensure the recyclability of the product.
Recyclable blister; the pharmaceutical packaging revolution
Blisters are one of the most used packagings in the pharmaceutical industry, but they cannot be recycled. They are composed of PVC and aluminium, a mix that makes it impossible to separate and so impossible to recycle in mechanical recycling plants.
Beyond the recyclability, we need to take into account the PVC composition. It's a material that is restricted in the European Union and the USA due to the toxicity of the gases (hydrogen chloride) released when it gets burned, which are considered carcinogenic and harmful to human health.
With the recyclable blister, Rotor Print wants to move the circular economy forward, warranting the blister's recyclability. It increases recyclability, doesn’t generate harmful to human health gases and preserves the products with the required conditions.