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In the realm of packaging, blister packaging has gained significant popularity in recent years. Walk into any supermarket or drugstore, and you're bound to encounter countless products enclosed in these transparent, plastic bubbles.

But what is blister packaging and what makes blister packaging so special? Are there any downsides to this seemingly universal solution? In this blog post, we'll dive into the advantages and disadvantages of blister packaging, exploring its convenience while shedding light on its potential drawbacks.

What are the Advantages of Blister Packaging?

From consumer goods to medication, blister packaging provides a versatile and customizable solution. Now let's take a closer look at what benefits blister packaging can bring to manufacturers and consumers.

1. Product Visibility

One of the primary advantages of blister packaging is its exceptional product visibility. Except for the unique Alu-Alu style used in the pharmaceutical industry, most blister packs come with a clear plastic blister. This plastic cover allows consumers to see the product inside. This provides consumers with a tangible preview of what they are buying.

2. Enhanced Product Freshness

Blister packaging can contribute to extending the shelf life of certain products. The packaging creates a sealed environment. It protects pharmaceuticals or food items from exposure to air, moisture, and contaminants. This powerful shield helps preserve the freshness, quality, and effectiveness of the product. So consumers can receive it in optimal condition.

3. Protection against Damage

Blister packaging features a robust design. The durable plastic blister can effectively protect products against pressure and impacts during transportation and storage. It also can prevent tampering to safeguard brand integrity. This ensures the product reaches the end consumer in pristine condition, reducing the risk of returns or customer dissatisfaction.

4. Dosage and Serving Size Accuracy

Blister packaging is particularly beneficial when products require accurate dosage or serving sizes. When packaging medications, supplements, or seasoning blends, each compartment in the blister pack can be individually filled. This ensures accurate and consistent portioning. It also enhances user convenience, eliminates the need for counting, and minimizes the risk of over or under-dosing.

5. Customization

Customization is another one of the most important advantages of blister packaging. Manufacturers can print product information, logos, and promotional messages on the blister pack to enhance their marketing efforts. This benefit helps distinguish products on shelves and makes them more eye-catching.

6. Ease of Use and Accessibility

Blister packaging allows for a neat arrangement of products. User-friendly opening mechanisms simplify access to the enclosed items. Tear-off tabs, perforated sections, or push-through designs provide consumers with a hassle-free experience in using the products.

7. Cost-effective Manufacturing and Retailing

Blister packaging offers cost advantages for both manufacturers and retailers. Its relatively simple design and manufacturing process make it an economical choice. Additionally, lightweight blister packs require less material for production. The compact nature of blister packaging also optimizes shelf space. This allows retailers to display more products within the same area.

What are the Disadvantages of Blister Packaging?

Before you decide to incorporate blister packaging into your business, it's crucial to take a closer look at its disadvantages. So, let's explore more!

1. Environmental Impact

One of the significant concerns about blister packaging is its environmental impact. Most blister packs are made from non-biodegradable plastic materials. Improper disposal can harm the environment. Additionally, certain packs combine plastic and foil. This makes them challenging to recycle.

2. Difficulty in Opening

Blister packs are known for their security and protection. Yet, some types of blister packaging, like a clamshell, can be challenging to open. The rigid plastic shell and the need for precise opening techniques can lead to frustration and inconvenience.

3. Susceptibility to Heat and Light

Some types of blister packaging come with clear plastic blisters. These materials may be susceptible to heat and light exposure. This can pose a risk for products sensitive to temperature or requiring protection from UV rays. Careful storage may be necessary to ensure the product's integrity and effectiveness.

4. Tampering Concerns

While blister packaging provides a level of tamper evidence, it is not foolproof. The transparent plastic cover or aluminum foil back can be tampered with if not properly secured or stored. This can be particularly concerning for pharmaceuticals where tampering poses health risks.

5. Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities

Individuals with visual impairments or limited manual dexterity may encounter obstacles while using blister packaging. The tiny compartments and the need for precise opening techniques could impede their independent use of the products.

What are the Products Well-Suited to Blister Packaging?

Now that you know the advantages and disadvantages of blister packaging, let's learn where this packaging solution can be used.

1. Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals. Blister packs are commonly used for packaging individual doses of medications and supplements, such as capsules, tablets, and pills. The individual blister cavities provide protection, dosage control, and tamper-evident features.

2. Food and Snacks. Blister packs are also a go-to choice for packaging individual portions of food items like chewing gum and sweets. It helps preserve the freshness and hygiene of the contents.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Pharmaceutical Packing Material wholesaler. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

3. Cosmetics and Personal Care Products. Blister packaging is popular among cosmetics, skincare products, and personal care items such as lipstick, mascara, nail polish, and travel-size toiletries. This type of packaging provides visual aesthetics and safeguards the product from contamination.

4. Consumer Electronics. Small electronic devices like earphones, memory cards, and USB drives are often packaged in blister packs. The transparent blister lets customers see the product while protecting against damage and tampering.

5. Stationery and Office Supplies. This solution is commonly used for packaging pens, erasers, sharpeners, and other stationery items. The clear plastic blister showcases what you're buying and protects products during transportation and storage.

6. Toys and Games. Many action figures, collectibles, and card games often use this packaging method. Blister packs allow customers to see the items and their features while keeping them secure.

7. Small Tools. Screwdrivers, scissors, and wrench sets are often packaged in blister packs. The transparent blister allows easy visibility and organization of these small items. Also, it makes them more convenient for consumers.

The Bottom Line

By weighing the advantages and disadvantages of blister packaging, you can decide whether this packaging solution suits your products. You can also explore more packaging alternatives to address consumer preferences.

Pharmaceutical glass: uses, benefits and future directions

The pharmaceutical packaging industry has always used glass as the material of choice for the production of safe packaging. Its characteristics of chemical stability and inertness make glass ideal for the packaging of medicines, from solids to liquids, injectables and reconstitutables.

Glass is a material that does not risk affecting the purity of the contents it comes into contact with, even when its outer surface is exposed to other products and chemicals. Therefore, its prerogative of being highly 'non-reactive' is very advantageous in ensuring that drugs are not damaged and that their properties remain unaltered.

In addition, it is highly resistant to temperature changes, a valuable quality for the pharmaceutical industry, where products often have to be kept at certain temperatures, and also essential in cases where the packaging is subjected to particularly 'stressful' processes, such as sterilisation, freezing or freeze-drying.

Lastly, when produced in an amber colour, pharmaceutical glass reduces light transmission and is particularly suitable for more photosensitive drugs.

Glass types and treatments for pharmaceutical containers

In terms of composition, glass for pharmaceutical use can be classified into three main categories:

• Type I or borosilicate glass: thanks to its special composition, with boron molecules added in place of alkaline oxides, this type of glass is chemically inert and highly resistant. It is the ideal solution for containing all types of injectables and the most delicate treatments.
• Type II glass: with a sodium-calcium base, it undergoes an appropriate surface treatment to make it more resistant. This category is particularly suitable for solutions administered intravenously, such as infusion bottles.
• Type III glass: a sodium-calcium glass, similar in composition to Type II, with a highly versatile use and suitable for both solid and liquid drugs, for oral, topical or injectable use.

Glass containers can also undergo internal treatments using silicone, which, thanks to its hydrophobic properties, makes it possible on the one hand to reduce the interaction between the medicine and the surface of the bottle, and on the other hand to increase the gliding performance of any external components (e.g. rubber closures).

It can also undergo secondary processing on the outer surface with special lubricants to reduce friction and improve impact resistance and smoothness on packaging lines.

The production of hollow glass containers for pharmaceutical use

Hollow or moulded glass containers are obtained through a process of blowing molten material into moulds. The production stages of glass pharmaceutical packaging can be divided into:

• Melting: the raw material, consisting of a mix of silica sand, soda ash and other components, is collected in silos, then dosed, mixed and fed into the furnace to be melted. The furnace, constructed of refractory material capable of withstanding the high melting temperatures (1,600°C), is connected to monitors and process calculators that allow the operating parameters to be constantly checked with the correct vitrification of raw materials.
• Shaping: the molten glass enters thermal conditioning channels and, having reached the appropriate viscosity, is 'cut' into drops. The glowing glass droplet drops into the mould on the moulding machine, which then moulds the finished product using two different moulding technologies. The "blow-blow" technique relies on an initial blowing stage to create a vacuum in the preform, which is then shaped by another jet of air and assumes its final shape. By contrast, the "die-blowing" technique uses a piston to create a vacuum in the preform, which is then blown to its final shape.
• Annealing: the phase that eliminates residual stresses in the material, stabilising the structure of the glass and increasing its strength. Other secondary treatments are also applied. such as siliconizing and sulfurization, which improve the performance of the products, and make them more resistant to mechanical and chemical stresses, and more suitable for in-line processing.

Mould glass is mostly used for the production of containers for oral and solid drugs, but is also extensively used for parenteral treatments. For the latter, there are special ranges of high-performance borosilicate glass bottles manufactured using advanced production technology, which provides them with greater chemical and thermal stability, enhanced resistance and thus improved in-line efficiency and product safety.

The production of tubular glass containers for pharmaceutical use

Glass in this case is usually purchased by packaging companies in the form of long, semi-finished tubes that are then heat-processed into the final product.

Several tubes at a time are loaded vertically onto rotary machines and, as they descend, are heated and cut with high-temperature flames. First the shoulders and mouth of the vial are formed, after which the base is detached and machined. Tubular glass vials, like moulded ones, also pass through an annealing furnace to reduce the stress caused by the hot moulding process.

Tubular glass is extremely thin, transparent and has a uniform surface; it is particularly suitable for undergoing freeze-drying treatments. Because of these characteristics, it is used for the production of vials for injectable or laboratory drugs.

Quality and controls for pharmaceutical glass packaging

Being containers for pharmaceutical use, several, stringent quality controls are carried out by the manufacturing companies on all stages, from the raw materials to the finished product.

The following are performed:

• Preliminary checks on the composition and dosages of raw materials, both the siliceous compound and any cullet reused in the production process.
• Control of the product during processing: each individual piece is subjected to manual and automatic checks on all characteristics: size, shape, thickness, calibration of the mouths, integrity, and strength. Containers not considered suitable are automatically ejected from the packaging line and immediately recycled in the same production process for re-melting.
• Final inspection: checks are carried out on the packaged finished product and the pallets on which it is collected, which must also comply with labelling and storage requirements.

The use of the latest technologies allows the entire production cycle to be managed and monitored by means of computerised equipment, while highly sophisticated and specialised instruments ensure statistic-based checks, in order to obtain the quality level of the finished product that meets the requirements, both functional and aesthetic, of the bottlers, the distributors and the consumer.

Future directions for pharmaceutical glass packaging

While from a technical performance point of view there is no doubt about the robustness of this solution, the pharmaceutical industry will increasingly have to adapt to the demands of environmental sustainability.

Today there are already ranges of recycled glass products especially for type II and type III glass, which use materials from an external supply chain that is certified for pharmaceutical use. Chemical and mechanical processing of recycled materials allows regeneration of the raw material - glass powder - that forms the basis of the new processing cycle.

At the same time, projects are already in place for the creation of low-emission furnaces that use innovative technologies and industrial processes with a lower environmental impact.

This would fuel a Circular Economy model that would result in a lower use of natural resources, lower emissions and less energy usage, without sacrificing the very high quality and safety standards required.

Want more information on Pharmaceutical Packing Material wholesale? Feel free to contact us.