UPM Raflatac and Corning advance sustainability in pharma packaging

UPM Raflatac and Corning Pharmaceutical Technologies, a division of Corning Incorporated, have today announced the results of a collaborative study showing that a combination of the two companies’ products performs well in various challenging drug product storage conditions and offers significant sustainability benefits.

Such performance is vital to the safety and integrity of pharmaceutical products and aligns with industry needs for durable and dependable packaging. In the collaborative study conducted at UPM Raflatac’s North Carolina facility, teams from both companies combined pharmaceutical primary packaging and labeling. The pairings were tested at room temperature, dry heat, tropical and cryogenic storage conditions.

The combinations included Corning Viridian Vials, made of externally coated Type I borosilicate glass, and UPM Raflatac's Forest Film labels, alongside Pharmagloss and Pharmalite downgauged paper options. The product combinations performed well, showing that Corning and UPM Raflatac products pairing can hold up in tough environments. In particular, the labels demonstrated satisfactory adhesion across various wrap angles and storage conditions applied in pharma packaging.

‘We greatly appreciate UPM Raflatac’s expertise in label technology and its rigorous methods in demonstrating the effectiveness of labeling for our shared pharma customers,’ said Jessica Buday, product line manager for Corning Velocity Vials and Viridian Vials at Corning Pharmaceutical Technologies. ‘This study represents an example of how important it is for pharma suppliers to collaborate and ensure our products are compatible in a way that meets customer requirements, particularly with the increasing demand for sustainability.’

The tested pairing of UPM Raflatac and Corning products provided sustainability benefits without sacrificing performance. UPM Raflatac’s Forest Film label is made of ISCC-certified wood-based plastic. This bio-circular technology reduces the use of fossil-based plastics and is made with bio-naphtha (mass balance approach), which is derived from wood-based crude tall oil, a residue of the pulping process.

According to UPM, this product also provides up to a 42 percent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to conventional fossil-based plastics. Pharmagloss and Pharmalite downgauged paper options also reduce environmental impact by reducing material weight. Additionally, Corning’s Viridian vials use 20 percent less glass material than a conventional vial, achieving up to a 30 percent reduction in Scope 3 cradle-to-gate emissions.

‘We’re thrilled to work with Corning to help bring sustainability to the forefront of pharma packaging,’ said Sean Flanagan, product development manager at UPM Raflatac. ‘Our shared customers can trust that these solutions are safe, effective, and tested to performance standards, offering them a smoother pathway to sustainable innovation.’

Watch UPM Raflatac and Corning’s recent Transforming Pharma Packaging webinar for more insights into this collaboration.