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What does sustainability mean to healthcare packaging?

Last Updated On April 2, 2026

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainability as “Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition has become from frame work of the UN Sustainable Development Goals introduced in 2015.

In recent years we have seen a variety of sustainable initiatives proposed and implemented for food and consumer goods packaging. However, applying these same demands with a broad brush on many types of healthcare packaging may actually preclude some of these sustainable initiatives. The mantra of ‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ is severely limited by FDA and EU regulatory requirements for healthcare packaging. While we have seen some advances in reducing the amount of packaging materials and some recycling of healthcare plastics packaging, compostable packaging materials are currently unlikely candidates for healthcare packaging due to concerns about shelf-life limitations and sterilization compatibility.

Continued advances in materials have and will continue to make it possible to reduce the amount of packaging used. It is often possible to use thinner or lighter materials for packaging through the use of laminates and coextrusions as well as using newly available polymers, copolymers and additives. These new materials often perform at such a high level that reductions in the amounts of packaging used can reach 20 to 50% depending on the application and existing package structure and sterile barrier system. Because of the potential for cost savings involved, efforts to reduce materials across the entire packaging system, (primary, secondary and tertiary packaging) has gone on for many years. Yet, the burden of change and the evolving regulatory environment continues to present barriers and there are still opportunities to reduce the amount of packaging used in many healthcare applications. In addition, package reduction can also be achieved by changes to package design and/or package format.

While the feasibility of including recycled materials from mechanical recycling processes into healthcare packaging remains dubious given the current regulatory environment, there are opportunities for the inclusion of recycled materials coming from advanced recycling technologies which apply Mass Balance accounting practices.

Additionally, the potential to recycle healthcare packaging into other applications or into advanced recycling technologies has shown more promise. Opportunities to recycle Healthcare plastics have been the focus of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC). “HPRC is a private technical coalition of peers across the healthcare, recycling and waste management industries seeking to inspire and enable sustainable, cost-effective recycling solutions for plastic products and materials used in the delivery of healthcare.” HPRC has developed a number of tools, white papers, and educational content for the healthcare packaging market.

Another organization of note is Practice Greenhealth. The website describes this organization as follows: “Practice Greenhealth is the source for environmental solutions for the healthcare sector and lends support to create better, safer, greener workplaces and communities. Practice Greenhealth is a nonprofit membership organization founded on the principles of positive environmental stewardship and best practices by organizations in the healthcare community.” The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) has also been actively engaged in pursuing the end-of-life options for food and medical packaging.

An additional option is for materials to be channeled into an energy recovery system. In this process materials are incinerated and the energy released in burning is converted to generate electricity. This option does not have the same limitations of materials streams as the recycle process in terms of multi-layers film structures. The EPA identifies that 90% of all potentially infectious medical waste in the US is incinerated. A move towards making this practice into energy recovery systems may offer a better alternative to landfill waste of medical packaging systems.

An evolving area to explore in packaging sustainability is the source of the raw materials. While mechanically recycled materials are not suitable for healthcare packaging, the use of raw materials from sustainable sources can be explored further. One source of sustainable materials suitable for healthcare packaging is familiar polymers made from new sources of hydrocarbons. For instance, large scale production of polyethylene using sugar cane as the raw material has become a reality, and we are seeing further advancements in the production of polymers using circular feedstocks from advanced recycling technologies, as well as renewable feedstocks all of which are intended to enable a carbon footprint reduction. The industry will continue to develop and make advancements on these fronts over the next few years with the common goal to reduce the products carbon foot print through the production of common polymers from sustainable sources, and shift away from those that are derived from fossil fuels. Of course, any new material must be tested to prove its suitability for the intended use, but if the basic polymer chemistry is unchanged, there is a high likelihood that these new materials will perform like their petroleum-based analogs. While new materials lack long term performance data making the willingness for taking the initial risk will be a potential barrier, but we expect brand owners will explore these alternatives as a means to lower the carbon footprint of their products.

Referring back to the definition above, “Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” As this relates to packaging it should be noted that the system that creates our ability to package and protect healthcare products, must be evaluated on the broadest possible scale; what materials are used to make the package, how efficiently can it be made to benefit the environment and at the same time provide product protection, maintenance of sterility and aseptic presentation. Consider also available options for end-of-life removal and destruction of the packaging to recover the components with a lower consumption of resources. The manufacture, use and removal of these materials have a broad environmental impact, and the entire lifecycle of the product should be considered.