PHARMAP 2025: Graphic Packaging International balances safety and sustainability in healthcare

The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) poses many challenges for pharmaceutical and medical companies whose priority is to guarantee patient safety while moving toward recyclable packaging products.

Ahead of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Packaging Congress (PHARMAP) 2025 in Berlin, Germany, April 14–15, we sit down with Andreas Koechling, regional sales director for Healthcare in Germany and Austria at Graphic Packaging International, to discuss how the paperboard packaging company reduces plastic in medical applications to meet regulatory requirements. 

At the networking event next week, Graphic Packaging International will showcase its commercialized secondary packaging innovations, which aim to balance environmental sustainability, patient safety, and legislation. 

What will be the key themes and trends at PHARMAP 2025? 
Koechling: Healthcare is evolving quickly, and so packaging must evolve even quicker to ensure it is ready to meet demand. The growth of self-administered medications and the advancement of more personalized medicines are both key trends that will require packaging to adapt. We expect there to be a lot of discussions around the strategy for how to deliver on these trends at the event.

The industry has also experienced supply shortages of many raw materials in recent months. We expect one of the main topics of conversation to be focused on how all partners along the supply chain can ensure greater levels of resilience and security in Europe. 

As a packaging partner, many of our customers are asking us about sustainability-related topics, so we should see a lot of discussion around issues like packaging recyclability, plastic reduction, and how to balance sustainability goals with patient protection.

How are your solutions tapping into these current industry focuses? 
Koechling: Working in close collaboration with our customers, our aim is to understand what their needs are so we can offer tailor-made solutions. The packaging solutions we will show at PHARMAP 2025 are already commercialized and on the market, so they are already actively enabling our customers to launch products that are more circular and more functional for their packing and logistics processes, and more convenient for patients who demand intuitive self-medication solutions.Self-administered medications and personalized medicines will be key trends at PHARMAP 2025, says Koechling.

What are the main challenges for pharma packaging and its supply chain? 
Koechling: We can currently see that the global push to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging in favor of more recyclable paperboard options is increasing pressure on supplies of wood-based fiber. Furthermore, we see a clear move towards reducing the lead time of all packaging materials. Combined, both of these trends create challenges around costs and supply chain resilience.

How are you helping customers meet new regulatory requirements?
Koechling: While the majority of regulations in healthcare aim to ensure patient safety, sustainability regulations are relatively new requirements that have added an extra layer of complexity. As a packaging partner, we need to ensure that reducing plastic, increasing paperboard, or minimizing material use does not compromise a pack’s performance in the supply chain.

It is a balancing act, but we see the industry’s need for more circular packaging as an opportunity to develop innovative new solutions. Sometimes, this also means thinking beyond changing packaging materials and requires us to consider the product itself and its connected supply chain. As we understand that new product developments take a long time in healthcare due to the intense testing and regulatory approval processes that are unique to the industry, many of our customers are working with us now to get ahead of the curve. 

How are you helping combat the issue of counterfeit medicine? 
Koechling: The WHO estimates that around 50 percent of medications sold online are counterfeit. Many markets have introduced regulations making tracking and tracing products mandatory in an attempt to combat this.

We are an experienced partner in country-specific serialization, offering a compliant solution to apply the required codes and help our customers efficiently navigate this complex topic. In addition to these mandatory codes and processes, we can support and advise our customers on the topic of anti-counterfeit print solutions to increase the security of their products and enhance patient protection.