Sustainable plastic technology – Medicine Bottles Made with Less Plastic
OTC Medicine Bottles Made with Less Plastic
Author: EDITED BY LILLI MANOLIS SHERMAN Source: Plastic Technology.
GSK Consumer Healthcare aims to have migrated to more sustainable bottles for its Advil portfolio by 2022, thanks to modern barrier technology.
The manufacturer of Advil, GSK Consumer Healthcare, Warren, N.J., has launched what is allegedly the first-of-its-kind sustainable plastic technology program for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. The organization hopes to reduce the plastic in over 80 million bottles by 20% using advanced barrier technologies, resulting in a reduction of nearly 500,000 lbs of plastic in the atmosphere.
For virtually all Advil portfolio bottles sold in stores and online, the transformation is scheduled to be completed by 2022.
According to GSK’s v.p. of sustainability Sarah McDonald, this barrier technology requires the use of a nucleating agent that is metered into the blow molding grade of HDPE during the manufacturing process, similar to the metering of the white colorant.
“The addition of the nucleating agent in combination with the precision of material delivery, achieved with compression blow formation, helps us to reduce material while retaining barrier properties,” she explained when asked how the company is able to achieve the 20 percent material reduction while maintaining barrier protection properties.
