The transition to packaging solutions made from mono-materials brings challenges that require market knowledge as well as technical expertise.
In the following interview, you can discover how the SÜDPACK MEDICA team is working together with IMA to develop polypropylene on the IMA Safe blister lines into a market-ready solution.
(Emanuele Simonini, Materials Technologist – IMA Open Lab)
There is a growing trend toward mono-material packaging to enhance the recyclability of blister packaging. However, mono-materials bring new challenges to packaging processes, particularly in maintaining high standards of quality and performance. At IMA, we have dedicated significant internal efforts to testing and verifying the machinability of these materials, ensuring they meet our quality benchmarks. By working closely with film producers like SÜDPACK Medica, we’ve developed solutions that combine sustainability with the exceptional quality and reliability our customers expect, paving the way for innovative and future-ready packaging systems.
This collaboration creates significant opportunities to explore and optimize material performance for blister packaging applications. By testing formable reels produced with different technologies, we can analyze the material’s structural properties and assess how these influence quality and performance on blister machines. This process allows us to identify key factors that contribute to consistent and high-quality results, including aesthetic properties and process stability.
Through these joint efforts, we work to validate innovative concepts, such as the production of recyclable PP-based blisters with exceptional performance. Such collaborations not only help identify the most suitable production technologies but also ensure that customers have access to market-ready solutions that align with sustainability goals.
(Christoph Koslowski, Business Development Senior Manager at SÜDPACK Medica)
SÜDPACK is now 60 years on the market and is a specialist in high performance thermoforming and lidding films out of Polypropylene. We have developed PharmaGuard® to meet the special needs of pharmaceutical customers. PPWR and other regulations will mandate a change and sooner or later also pharma needs to have recyclable packaging and eventually also recycled content. Some solutions like PFAS will make pharmaceutical companies force to qualify new solutions even faster. The change will not happen overnight, so it is good to start as soon as possible to gain experience.
SÜDPACK Medica, exactly like IMA, is a family-owned business with extended experience in this market. We are already building up capacity to make sure that we can serve the increasing demand for PP-Mono-Solutions. The current trend towards recyclable solutions, the collaboration with IMA and the expertise in films of SÜDPACK Medicaand IMA Open Lab help the customers to adjust to new packaging requirements and change from existing packaging to new ones using none or just small adjustments.
(Christoph Koslowski, Business Development Senior Manager at SÜDPACK Medica)
SÜDPACK can process several polymers and could choose amongst PE, PET and PP. From our perspective, Polypropylene is the perfect polymer for oral solid dose packaging. It combines a natural water vapor barrier with a low specific weight, two factors that show the highest potential to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental performance indicators. With our new Life Cycle Assessment, we can show this with different feedstock and end-of-life options.
PharmaGuard, our new polypropylene thermoforming and lidding material, is an example of the New Generation of PP-films, tailored to the needs of the pharma market. Apart from the sustainability aspect of PP compared to the existing materials,one of the most important development goals was an improvement of the machinability on blister lines. We can use our extensive experience and know-how of extrusion and the respective polymers to modify the properties in a way that improves the processability on existing blister lines.
PharmaGuard is a PFAS-, nitrosamine-, halogene, phatalate-free solution and is therefore a great and safe solution that can replace a large spectrum of the current blister material solutions on the market. This innovative material complies with the very stringent USP 661 and the International Pharmacopoeia. It has an intrinsic water vapor barrier and does not require plasticizers as a material of concern. Its low density provides a high yield, allowing customers to produce more blisters per kilogram of material. With the new generation of polypropylene mono-material, we have a great balance of good mechanical behavior during processing and high stability after thermoforming.
(Emanuele Simonini, Materials Technologist – IMA Open Lab)
IMA has actively embraced the shift toward mono-materials by implementing tailored solutions to address the unique challenges they pose. For example, we have developed heated sealing systems and preheating technologies to optimize the handling of specific materials during the form-fill-seal process.
To play an active role in the creation of sustainability-centric packaging, IMA established an open lab to characterize new materials and correlate their thermo-mechanical properties to the performances during the form-fill-seal process. This enables us to provide data-driven insights and ensure that the recyclability and performance of mono-materials meet both market demands and our packaging standards. With its strong potential for recycling stream and secondary market, mono-material packaging is a strategic focus for IMA.
Our Open Lab is a network of packaging materials analytical laboratories. The first one was opened right before the Single-use Plastic Ban, and from that moment the whole growing network focused on new generation packaging. Now there are 3 analytical labs in the world and 2 dedicated testing areas, and all the effort is on cooperating with materials suppliers and customers to help define a future-proof sustainable packaging
(Christoph Koslowski, Business Development Senior Manager at SÜDPACK Medica)
When we developed PharmaGuard we elevated the performance to a higher level than traditional PP-films thanks to our strong experience in thermoforming, sealing layer design and printing. We see that customers get better forming results when they seal with a strong lock-tight seal.
PharmaGuard is very flexible in terms of printing. We can offer pre-printed lids or solutions for in-line printing without compromising on speed and efficiency. Customers are increasingly asking for late-stage customization solutions such as inline printing and we have used our experience as a packaging printer to develop a solution. This is where the close cooperation between inline printing manufacturers, machine builders and us has proved to be very successful as printing surface, ink systems, printing technology and blister lines must work seamlessly together.
Compared to other materials, PharmaGuard showes significant advantages in terms of printability. And the best thing: the systems are based on the latest generation of low migration formulations, making it compliant also with the upcoming legislations. The cooperation with IMA is great as they make sure that whatever we do in material development does not reduce the operational performance of the IMA lines.
(Emanuele Simonini, Materials Technologist – IMA Open Lab)
One of the most critical stages in blister machine operations is undoubtedly the forming process. This step is highly influenced by the specific properties of the materials used, as different materials require distinct forming conditions. Key factors include the thermo-mechanical properties of the formable reel, which can be precisely analyzed in our Open Lab. Additionally, machine tuning, the geometry of the forming units, temperature control, and the advanced mechanical expertise that IMA can deliver play pivotal roles in ensuring optimal results.
A significant advantage comes from having larger process windows. Materials with larger process windows demonstrate greater flexibility during production, delivering reliable performance even when machine parameters vary.
For what concern sealing, A lower temperature and a wider sealing window are always an advantage. This also fits well with the highly efficient rotary sealing systems typically used in IMA blister packaging lines.
(Emanuele Simonini, Materials Technologist – IMA Open Lab)
The open lab plays a pivotal role in supporting clients during the development phase by providing a comprehensive understanding of how materials perform on IMA machines. Firstly, the lab creates a detailed database of material structures, correlating them with their testing performance on our systems. This resource is invaluable for both machine manufacturers and materials producers.
Secondly, the open lab enables a dual-perspective approach to troubleshooting. Any issues encountered during testing are analyzed in-house from both the machine and material standpoint, ensuring precise adjustments and solutions.
Moreover, by evaluating new sustainable materials introduced each year, the lab identifies market trends across various IMA applications. This observatory function helps clients make informed decisions, aligning their packaging strategies with both sustainability goals and market demands.
Lastly, IMA Group commits to help pharmaceutical clients to transition to sustainable blister packaging by adapting and retrofitting new generation materials on a substantial part of the machine portfolio.