Recently, the reporter learned from the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau that the group standard “Guidelines for the Reduction of Drug Packaging, Tablets and Capsules”, which was prepared by Shanghai Metrology Association and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Quality Association under the guidance of Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Supervision Bureau, was officially issued, and will be formally implemented on September 30. The release of this standard filled the technical gap of “restricting the excessive packaging of drugs” and became the first group standard related to the reduction of packaging materials in the drug field in China.
It is understood that the Guidelines for Drug Packaging Material Reduction Tablets and Capsules focuses on the collection of tablets and capsules, and puts forward relevant requirements in terms of packaging porosity, packaging layers, material selection, medium packaging, transportation packaging, etc., covering the excessive packaging governance in the whole industrial chain of drug production and management.
In terms of production, the standard points out that it is possible to consider adjusting the medium packaging forms widely used in the current market, replacing traditional cartons by wrapping films, plastic tapes and other forms, so as to reduce the amount of packaging materials.
In terms of transportation, the standard points out that cartons that meet the requirements of various storage environments, such as cold storage and normal temperature, can be selected to replace the “one size fits all” packaging method of traditional carton models and specifications, and drugs can be transported in a more scientific, reasonable and economical way.
The standard puts forward clear requirements for drug packaging porosity and number of packaging layers, such as the number of packaging layers should be less than or equal to three, and the packaging porosity has corresponding requirements with different drug content. This standard responds to the voice of citizens, especially the patients with chronic diseases, to reduce unnecessary packaging of drugs, to avoid the “mountains” of drugs at home, to reduce the number of packaging layers, reduce the size of packaging boxes, and “more pills” per plate. It is also a vivid practice of advocating green and low-carbon life.
It is reported that the release and implementation of the group’s standards have been strongly supported and actively participated by many pharmaceutical manufacturers in Shanghai. A total of 18 pharmaceutical manufacturers have actively committed to implementing the standards, becoming the first batch of enterprises in the industry in Shanghai to practice the concept of eliminating excessive packaging of drugs and jointly “downsize” pharmaceutical packaging.
