In this episode of the updated Over The Counter podcast, HBW Insight speaks to sustainable packaging expert Tony Perrotta about the complexities of replacing plastic pill packs in medicines packaging. Perrotta is a partner at PA Consulting, which set up the Blister Pack Collective alongside consumer health players Haleon, Bayer and Sanofi. They are working with PulPac, which has invented a dry molded fiber alternative to plastic, which the Collective hopes to commercialize within 12-24 months. We discuss whether regulators will accept such alternatives, given the safety and stability requirements for medicines, and the challenges of recycling, given the multitude of different frameworks and processes across the world. Perrotta also reveals that one of the partners in PA Consulting’s Bottle Collective, which hopes to replace plastic bottles in the food, personal care and consumer health industries, will soon launch its first market trial.

The Association of the European Self-Care Industry gives EU regulators a to-do list of targeted reforms to save the Medical Devices Regulation from the scrapheap.

CBD products produced by Chanelle McCoy Health and Cannaray have been given the green light by the Food Standards Agency's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes allowing them to progress to the final stages of the regulator's lengthy approval process. Meanwhile, the Home Office has changed its policy with regards to THC in CBD, in response to an action brought against it by Jersey Hemp, clearing another barrier to making the UK market compliant. 

Industry is researching alternatives to PVC for medicines packaging, but content integrity must remain paramount, says Circpack consultancy’s Filipe Viera de Castro, who puts the case for companies to contribute to waste management costs.

Thousands of companies operating within the EU will soon be required to identify across their whole supply chain any adverse impact on the environment and human rights. Failure to do so could mean fines of up to 5% of worldwide net sales.

The combination of Clasado's Bimuno GOS prebiotic and Probi's Defendum probiotic has been shown to significantly increase lactate levels and increase short chain fatty acid butyrate by 26% - “two important gut health promoting components that are also associated with supporting immune health,” Clasado said.