Leaders of Change Case Studies

Sectors:
Pharmaceuticals

Specialty:
Pharmaceutical Packaging, and more

Solution:
Reduce the ecological footprint of their products through production decisions.

One of the largest sectors in sustainable packaging is also the most overlooked — pharmaceuticals. Every day, millions of people collect essential medications from their local pharmacies, but few give a second thought to the plastic vials they arrive in. However, these containers are carefully designed and must meet stringent health and safety standards.

RICHARDS Packaging, the third-largest packing producer in North America, is always working towards sustainability despite the many regulations their products need to contend with.

Their approach? Consider sustainability at every step of the manufacturing process, even if the end product is not yet ideally eco-friendly. The company’s SECURIGO medication vials are their biggest selling product — this is the familiar, cylindrical vial with the child-safe lid that is used at nearly all pharmacies across North America. The vials are required by law to be non-reusable, child-safe, and made from virgin, non-recycled materials — all important standards for patient safety, but definitely not conducive to eco-friendliness.

However, RICHARDS Packaging hasn’t let these circumstances hold them back from working towards a smaller footprint. One major asset to RICHARDS’ quest for sustainability is their manufacturing facility. The plant is where they produce their SECURIGO medication vials takes sustainability seriously — they’re the only one in Canada to be Ecoresponsible certified by the Council of Sustainable Industries. To avoid fossil-fuel emissions, the plant has materials delivered via train to a railspur they purchased, and the entire facility operates on a closed-loop, hydro-powered system.

Wherever they can, RICHARDS also works towards reducing the ecological footprint of their product. For example, pharmaceutical vials cannot be reused, or made from post-consumer plastic due to the risk of introducing contaminants. If they are reused, they may also fall out of compliance with strict standards for child-safe packaging as the relevant components wear out.

However, the company has pursued sustainability without compromising patient health and safety. RICHARDS’ vials weigh less than others on the market, in order to use less plastic. They also take on community and educational initiatives, such as raising awareness among pharmacists to choose medication vials that are not too large. While this may sound like a negligible difference, a 10-gram vial uses 24% more plastic than a 7-gram one, and a banner group of pharmacies can consume a truckload’s worth of vials during one calendar year alone!

The company also looks to the future. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, RICHARDS Packaging piloted a project that would allow consumers to return their vials to designated containers at their pharmacy. RICHARDS would pick the containers up, then repurpose the plastic into entirely new types of products. While the containers were already recyclable, this more direct ‘upcycling’ approach opens up a whole new arena of potential applications.

By looking for ways to prioritize sustainability at even the smaller steps of their process, RICHARDS Packaging has found that they can make great strides.

The takeaway? A more sustainable business model is always within reach, no matter the challenges on the way to getting there.