Huhtamaki launches Push Tab® blister lid, a first-to-market, aluminium-free, mono-material PET blister lidding, for the global healthcare industry

HELSINKI, April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, announces a first-to-market sustainable innovation for the global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Huhtamaki's Push Tab® blister lid is mono-material PET and free from aluminium. It is designed to meet the stringent safety requirements of pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging and provides the industry with a more sustainable alternative to traditional push-through blister packaging. The product is now available in Europe, with plans to expand to North America. 

Made of mono-material PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the product significantly improves recyclability of the packaging, while remaining compatible with existing high-performance blister packaging lines, without needing modifications or extra investment, running on existing packaging lines without compromising speed. Huhtamaki and its partner – Klöckner Pentaplast – bring this first-to-market innovation to help the global healthcare and pharmaceutical sector.

"We are proud to partner with Klöckner Pentaplast to bring Push Tab® blister lid to market and continue to shape the sustainable future of pharmaceutical and flexible packaging. This innovation is designed as part of our blueloop platform, enabling us to speed up innovation and improve circularity in high-performance flexible packaging solutions. We are working hard to turn all our products into mono-material fully recyclable structures. In addition, we are collaborating with partners across the value chain to deliver innovation that helps ensure that ambitious sustainability targets around the globe can be met," says Marco Hilty, President, Flexible Packaging at Huhtamaki. 

"The pharmaceutical industry is proactively searching for sustainable packaging solutions that enable recyclability. Since blister packaging traditionally contains multiple materials, it is difficult to recycle them in a single recycling stream. Push Tab® blister lid solves this problem because it is made of mono PET. Push Tab® runs on existing blister packaging lines and is a plug-and-play solution, which means no additional investment is needed for our customers. This newly developed unique technology makes PET based lid film pushable and secures easy access to the tablet for the consumer." says Tobias Fackler, Senior Manager of the Healthcare Business Unit at Huhtamaki Flexible Packaging. 

About Huhtamaki
Huhtamaki is a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions for consumers around the world, enabling wellbeing and convenience. Our innovative products protect on-the-go and on-the-shelf food and beverages, ensuring hygiene and safety, and help prevent food waste. We embed sustainability in everything we do. We are committed to achieving carbon neutral production and designing all our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030.

We are a participant in the UN Global Compact and EcoVadis has awarded Huhtamaki with the Gold medal for performance in sustainability. To play our part in managing climate change, we have set science-based targets that have been approved and validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.

With 100 years of history and a strong Nordic heritage we operate in 38 countries and 114 operating locations around the world. Our values Care Dare Deliver guide our decisions and help our team of 19,600 employees make a difference where it matters. Our 2021 net sales totaled EUR 3.6 billion. Huhtamaki Group is headquartered in Espoo, Finland and our parent company, Huhtamäki Oyj, is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. Find out more about how we are protecting food, people and the planet at www.huhtamaki.com.

About Klöckner Pentaplast
Focused on delivering its vision: The Sustainable Protection of Everyday Needs, kp is a global leader in rigid and flexible packaging, specialty film solutions, serving the pharmaceutical, medical device, food, beverage and card markets, amongst others. With a broad and innovative portfolio of packaging, product films and services, kp plays an integral role in the customer value chain by safeguarding product integrity, assuring safety and consumer health, improving sustainability and protecting brand reputation. Founded in 1965, we have 31 plants in 18 countries, and employ over 5,900 people, committed to serving customers worldwide. https://www.kpfilms.com/en/

SOURCE Huhtamaki Oyj