Suppliers Push Medical OEMs Toward Eco-Friendly Plastics

Medical Product Manufacturing News (Leonard) - 'Green' plastics that contain renewable or recycled content are working their way into medical products and packaging. This hasn’t been the case for the medical device industry, however. Cost concerns, regulatory wariness, minimal selection, and a lack of strong demand from end-users have deterred medical device OEMs from pursuing the use of more environmentally friendly plastics. Seeking to spur change, some suppliers to the industry are paving the way for a sustainable switch in materials as they begin to offer eco-friendly options for plastic medical applications.

Recycling is a key component in the drive for more-sustainable packaging options, most notably in the reprocessing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) is produced by converting used plastic water bottles into extruded sheets, and eventually, to finished medical packaging. The material is primarily employed in secondary medical packaging applications where the primary package is responsible for ensuring sterility.

“In the months and years to come, you will see more and more regulation and legislation pushing toward the use of bioplastics in a lot of different applications,” Scheer says. “You have directives that have been endorsed by the [current] administration by which all federal agencies will have to buy bioplastic and biobased materials. I think that in 2010, 2011, and thereafter, you will see a transition and you will see more and more applications in the medical and dental industries.”  For more articles and information on sustainable manufacturing and green materials, go to www.devicelink.com/mpmn/green