Huhtamaki launches mono-material PET blister lidding

Finland-based packaging specialist Huhtamaki is launching a sustainable innovation for the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Huhtamaki's Push Tab blister lid, made of mono-material PET and free from aluminium, is designed to meet safety requirements as well as offer a more sustainable alternative to traditional push-through blister packaging.

PET significantly improves recyclability in packaging whilst remaining compatible with existing high-performance blister packaging lines. Huhtamaki and its partner – Klöckner Pentaplast – will bring this innovation to market to help the global healthcare and pharmaceutical sector meet sustainability targets and achieve market growth.

In 2021, European packaging sales in the healthcare category had an estimated value of €1.4bn (~£1.2bn) – half which can be directly accredited to blister packaging.

Marco Hilty, President, Flexible Packaging at Huhtamaki, said: “This innovation is designed as part of our blueloop platform, enabling us to speed up innovation and improve circularity in high-performance flexible packaging solutions. We are working hard to turn all our products into mono-material fully recyclable structures. In addition, we are collaborating with partners across the value chain to deliver innovation that helps ensure that ambitious sustainability targets around the globe can be met.”

Tobias Fackler, Senior Manager of the Healthcare Business Unit at Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging, added: “The pharmaceutical industry is proactively searching for sustainable packaging solutions that enable recyclability. Since blister packaging traditionally contains multiple materials, it is difficult to recycle them in a single recycling stream. Push Tab blister lid solves this problem because it is made of mono PET. Push Tab runs on existing blister packaging lines and is a plug-and-play solution, which means no additional investment is needed.”