Plastic is gaining ground in pharma packaging

As of the end of 2018, the Chinese pharmaceutical packaging industry stood at a staggering 106.8 billion yuan, reports Packaging-gateway.

What’s noteworthy is the shift in materials used for drug packaging, with plastic and composite materials emerging as key players, representing 43% and 24% of the industry’s total value, respectively. Once heavily reliant on traditional glass containers, the pharmaceutical industry has witnessed a significant transformation in packaging materials.What’s noteworthy is the shift in materials used for drug packaging, with plastic and composite materials emerging as key players, representing 43% and 24% of the industry’s total value, respectively.

Once heavily reliant on traditional glass containers, the pharmaceutical industry has witnessed a significant transformation in packaging materials. Plastic, particularly in the form of COP (Cyclic Olefin Polymer), has emerged as a compelling alternative. This shift is driven by several factors, including cost-effectiveness and durability.

COP containers have demonstrated their mettle by offering enhanced protection to medicines, ensuring their stability and efficacy. This has not only piqued the interest of pharmaceutical companies but also raised the bar for packaging standards. With a 24% market share, these materials offer a unique blend of characteristics, combining the strength of plastics with other desirable properties like barrier protection and transparency.

This diversification in packaging materials not only provides pharmaceutical companies with more choices but also drives innovation in the industry as manufacturers strive to meet evolving demands for sustainability and product integrity.What’s noteworthy is the shift in materials used for drug packaging, with plastic and composite materials emerging as key players, representing 43% and 24% of the industry’s total value, respectively.

This diversification in packaging materials not only provides pharmaceutical companies with more choices but also drives innovation in the industry as manufacturers strive to meet evolving demands for sustainability and product integrity.

We remind, Technip Energies, a leading engineering and technology company for the energy transition, and Versalis, Eni's chemical company, have signed an agreement aimed at integrating Versalis' Hoop and Technip Energies' Pure.rOilTM and Pure.rGasTM purification technologies by developing a technological platform for the advanced chemical recycling of plastic waste.

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European Union countries are preparing to push for a global deal on phasing out fossil fuels at the United Nations COP28 climate summit which begins in November, a draft of the EU's negotiating position showed, said Reuters.

Diplomats from the bloc's 27 member states are drafting their position for the summit in Dubai, where nearly 200 countries will try to strengthen efforts to rein in climate change. "The shift towards a climate neutral economy will require the global phase-out of fossil fuels and a peak in their consumption already in the near term," a draft of the EU's negotiating stance, seen by Reuters, said.

Countries have never before agreed in UN climate negotiations to gradually stop burning all CO2-emitting fossil fuels, despite this being the main cause of climate change. "Unabated" refers to fossil fuels burned without using technologies to capture the resulting CO2 emissions. The word was in brackets in the draft EU text, indicating that countries have not yet agreed on whether to include it.

EU diplomats hope a deal could be clinched at COP28 - but expect to meet resistance from economies reliant on income from selling oil and gas. The EU document, which is still being negotiated and could change before it is due to be finalized in October, said the energy sector should be largely free of fossil fuels "well ahead of 2050" because cost-effective, CO2-free energy sources are already available.

A proposal to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels won backing from more than 80 countries at last year's UN climate summit, but Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas-rich nations opposed it. Some countries with fossil fuel-heavy economies want to focus on developing technologies to capture CO2 emissions, rather than reducing the use of fossil fuels. Disagreement over this issue meant G20 countries' ministers could not agree to curb fossil fuels at a meeting last month.

Some EU countries seeking faster CO2-cutting action want to agree limits on CO2 capturing technologies - to restrict their use to sectors without alternatives, diplomats said. While not legally binding, the idea behind a global deal to gradually quit fossil fuels is to create a powerful "north star" to guide future climate negotiations, government policies and investments towards energy sources and technologies that do not contribute to heating the planet.

We remind, Borealis will acquire Italian mechanical recycled polypropylene (R-PP) compounder Rialti. Rialti has a nameplate output capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year of compounded R-PP. The announcement comes amid tough trading conditions for flake and pellet producers and compounders in the R-PP chain. As a result of tough trading conditions, players across recycled polymers have been predicting consolidation would occur in the chain since Q4 - either through mergers and acquisitions or through bankruptcy.

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Brazil's sugar production in 2023/24 (April-March) is expected to be its largest ever in a season, with export volumes of the sweetener hitting a record high, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Brazil's total sugar output, from all producing regions, was estimated at 42.7 million metric tons, 2.3 million tons more than Job Economia's initial estimate and compared to 37 million tons in 2022/23, as the weather has been near perfect this season for crop growth and processing.

"So far so good for the season, very good," said Julio Maria Borges, managing partner at Job Economia. The consultancy upgraded its projections for sugarcane processing and sugar production for both the Centre-South and Northeast regions in Brazil. It sees exports reaching a record high of 32.2 million tons in the season, 2.4 million tons more than its previous estimate and compared to 27.1 million tons in 2022/23.

"That will account for around 50% of the global trade of sugar," Borges said. The rise in Brazil's projected production and exports of the sweetener coincides with weather problems in sugar-producing rivals India and Thailand, which are expected to have only limited amounts to export.

Mills in Brazil are allocating a near record amount of sugarcane to make sugar, and less so to produce ethanol, as the prices for the sweetener are higher. Job Economia projected total ethanol output at 32.9 billion liters, 600 million liters less than initially expected. Brazil produced 31.2 billion liters in the past season.

The corn-based share of the fuel, however, is seen growing 25% this season to 5.5 billion liters. It already accounts for 20% of the country's total ethanol production, which in the past was entirely made from sugarcane.

We remind, Venezuela is not willing to halt productive operations during contract audits that have led to the arrest of businessmen and officials, and to disputes with customers and partners of state company PDVSA. In June, a contract between PDVSA and Maroil Trading, a Geneva-based company owned by Venezuelan tycoon Wilmer Ruperti, became entangled in a dispute over payments, triggering the suspension of most exports of petroleum coke from the South American country.

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Shell Petroleum Company Limited, through its 100% owned subsidiary Impello Limited (“Shell”), has agreed to sell its home energy businesses, Shell Energy Retail Limited (SERL) in the UK and Shell Energy Retail GmbH (SERG) in Germany, to Octopus Energy Group, as per Reuters.

The businesses provide domestic gas, power, and broadband services to approximately two million customers and operate under the Shell Energy brand. The transaction has an effective date of September 1, 2023 and is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval.

Octopus is a leading energy retail company which provides innovative energy solutions to residential customers and operates in 15 countries.

Tariffs and offers will remain unchanged for all existing home energy customers, including continued access to 100% renewable power. Customer service will not be interrupted and, following regulatory approval and deal completion, both companies will ensure a seamless transfer of the businesses and eventually brand from Shell Energy to Octopus.

“This agreement follows the announcement during our Capital Markets Day to divest our home energy retail business in Europe,” said Steve Hill, Executive Vice-President, Shell Energy. “To drive performance, discipline and simplification, we are prioritising countries, projects, and routes to market where we can deliver the most value. We will work closely with Octopus to ensure a seamless transition and continued high standards of customer service.”

As part of the agreement, Shell and Octopus have also signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a potential international partnership to bring the best possible experience to their EV charging customers, including Shell Recharge subscribers. Options will be explored for possible joint promotions and brand activations, alongside co-operation on out-of-home charging and other activities across the EV value chain. Shell is already a leading EV charging provider with a global charging network set to expand to around 200,000 public charging points by 2030.

We remind, Shell is considering a sale of its Singapore refining and petrochemical plants as part of a broader strategic review and has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore a potential deal, said several sources close to the matter. The global energy major's new CEO, Wael Sawan, is targeting spending cuts over the next two years to boost profitability while remaining committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

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PT Pertamina (Persero) is preparing nine potential collaborations and partnerships as a concrete step towards building green infrastructure at the ASEAN Indo Pacific Forum (AIPF) flagship event, which will take place in Jakarta on September 5 - 6, 2023, said Thejakartapost.

These nine plans for green infrastructure development are related to energy or oil and gas and supporting infrastructure development for the tourism industry.

In the energy or oil and gas sector, Pertamina is preparing partnerships for the development of the Integrated Green Terminal Kalibaru, Integrated Terminal Tapanuli Tengah, opportunities for Carbon Capture and Storage/Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage (CCU/CCUS) collaboration, the gas pipeline network Dumai – Siak, and the production of Green Hydrogen and Nature-Based Solutions.

Fadjar Djoko Santoso, Vice President of Corporate Communication of PT Pertamina (Persero), stated that Pertamina will actively participate in the flagship event of ASEAN Summit 2023. It is a joint effort with the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and other state-owned enterprises to support AIPF as the epicenter of economic growth in ASEAN through collaboration with global partners.

"As an energy SOE, Pertamina continues to strengthen environmentally friendly energy infrastructure and a more resilient business ecosystem," said Fadjar.

Fadjar further emphasized that the concrete steps in green infrastructure development are taken within the Pertamina Group and in collaboration with SOE under the Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) for the electric vehicle (EV) battery factories development.

"Pertamina continues to seek new business opportunities in the energy transition era by investing in strategic sectors, including supporting the electric vehicle ecosystem. This is crucial to addressing the energy trilemma of energy security and safety, affordability, and sustainability," added Fadjar.

We remind, Pertamina plans in 2024 to mix more of its gasoline products with ethanol in a bid to offer alternative fuels to the public. The company will mix its 90-octane gasoline, Indonesia's most widely used fuel product under the brand Pertalite, with 7% ethanol, which will improve the quality of the fuel, Nicke Widyawati told a parliamentary hearing. Pertamina will also increase the ethanol blend in its other fuel product to 8% from 5%. That fuel, called Pertamax Green 95, is currently only offered at 17 fuel stations in Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia's two biggest cities.

Pertamina, as a leading company in the energy transition, is committed to supporting the Net Zero Emission 2060 target by continuously promoting programs that directly impact the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement. All these efforts align with Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) implementation across all Pertamina's business lines and operations.
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