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Eli Lilly & Company

Environmentally Acceptable Packaging - Directives and Goals

In 1993, Lilly created its Environmentally Acceptable Packaging Policy and Guidelines in order to ensure that the environmental impact of the packaging used for Lilly pharmaceutical products is minimized. These policies and guidelines were most recently updated in 1995. Environmentally acceptable packaging is defined as those packaging systems which give consideration to the basic principles of waste minimization. An environmentally acceptable package minimizes the packaging needs at the onset of the development cycle for new products while maintaining a focus on the reuse of materials through recycling and/or other means of reclamation.

The primary function of the packaging materials is to protect the drug product for the duration of its shelf life to ensure the quality at the moment of use for the patient. Thus, the selection of packaging should be data driven. Aspects to be considered when choosing packaging materials include - in addition to the environmental impact factors - issues such as customer needs, product protection requirements, legal requirements, technical feasibility, and cost.

In order to understand how Lilly compares with its competitors, the Lilly Global Packaging Technology and Development organization located at the European Development Center at Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, and Lilly Technology Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, conducted a benchmarking study on the environmental packaging policies of the top 25 world-wide pharmaceutical companies. Based on these results, the following guiding principles have been established in order to minimize the environmental impact of the selected packaging solution when feasible:

Minimization of:

  • size & volume of all packages
  • weight of packaging materials
  • number of different packaging materials used per finished package
Preferred use of:

  • mono-materials
  • plastic materials which can be incinerated to CO2 and water
  • recycled paper and cardboard
  • re-usable shipment containers and pallets
  • recycling logos and material marking
Avoid or minimize the use of:

  • laminates or materials which can not be separated after use
  • polyvinyl chloride
  • inks containing heavy metals
  • expanded polystyrene
The following examples serve to demonstrate the considerable impact the consequent application of these guiding principles can have in terms of waste minimization.

Case 1: The insulated shipment box for the distribution of our cardiovascular product ReoPro to our European hospital customers has been redesigned. The previous container was comprised of expanded polystyrene and corrugated cardboard and designed to package 6 single doses. The new container, which is made from the same materials, contains up to 30 single doses and weighs only 3.5 kg as compared to 12 kg for the original 6 dose package.

Case 2: The previously used PVC tray in the five-vial pack of our anti-infective Nebcin for the Austrian and German markets has been eliminated by switching to a new construction made of 100% cardboard.

Case 3: The optimization of the 10 tablet blister card design for our anti-infective CeclorMR resulted in a 26% reduction of the size of the blister and, consequently, of the size of the folding box.

For 1998, greater focus will be placed on collecting packaging waste data in order to identify areas where further improvements can be made.