ISCC Accreditation Demonstrates Berry Healthcare Germany Sustainability Capabilities

The two Berry Healthcare facilities in Italy – in Osnago and Sirone - have achieved International Sustainability and Carbon Certificate (ISCC) Plus accreditation. This enables the sites to sell to healthcare customers ISCC Plus certified packaging and plastic components that contribute to a circular economy approach based on advanced recycling and mass balance.

ISCC is a globally applicable sustainability certification system, covering all sustainable feedstocks, including agricultural and forestry biomass, circular materials and renewables, based on advanced recycling mass balance. Mass balance is an accepted and certified protocol that documents and tracks recycled content from supplier through to final delivery to customers.

The certification of the Osnago and Sirone factories is in line with the Ellen MacArthur foundation’s view that Mass Balance is an important element in the move to a circular economy. With this certification, customers of the two facilities can attest to their usage of certified circular polymers* throughout, from the initial feedstock, through advanced recycling process and manufacturing of the polymers, to conversion by Berry Healthcare into the final product. Strict traceability and verification are carried out by independent third-party auditors at each stage of the manufacturing process.

The availability of this advanced recycling resin in both circular PP and PE enables the Berry Healthcare Italian factories to help meet customer requirements for sustainable products and packaging, offering a range of solutions for medical devices and primary pharmaceutical packaging containing a high percentage of recycled material, from 30% to 100% and in items where this has previously been difficult to achieve.

This supports customers’ own sustainability commitments and helps them meet the requirements of forthcoming legislation, including the EU Plastic Packaging Levy and the UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax. Importantly, because the advanced recycled resin has the same properties as virgin material, there is no need for any qualification tests.

Alfredo Masuello, Managing Director, Plastiape S.p.A, comments: “ISCC certification provides valuable benefits to our customers because it allows us to develop solutions incorporating certified circular polymer for products and markets such as pharmaceuticals and drug delivery where we have previously not been able to offer recycled content.

The certification of the Italian sites follows that of Berry Healthcare’s Bangalore, India factory in May this year, and the company’s remaining Healthcare operations within Europe will be certified to ISCC Plus over the coming months, giving both global and local customers greater access to this advanced material.

The accreditation is also fully aligned with Berry’s Impact 2025 sustainability strategy. This seeks to work with customers to develop solutions that minimise a product’s environmental impact, focusing on areas such as enhancing its recyclability and the increasing incorporation of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin, along with Berry’s own commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 versus the company’s 2016 baseline.

ISCC certification is another important milestone for our two Italian factories,” says Walid Hamza, GM Healthcare Cluster – Europe & India. “It underlines our own sustainability commitments and how we seek to support those of our customers, in particular through our ability to increase our use of circular plastics.”

Berry Healthcare Osnago and Sirone provide a wide range of pharmaceutical and healthcare products and packaging, including medical devices, throat sprays and ophthalmic solutions, and are also suppliers to the personal care and homecare sectors. The factories are a market leader in the design and production of Dry Powder Inhalers, producing in excess of 60 million units annually.

Berry Healthcare is also currently developing a range of digitally connected DPIs. This follows the project launch earlier this year of the RS01X™ single dose DPI with built-in sensors and digital capabilities that tracks inhaler use and connects to the companion Respiro™ app from Amiko Digital Health, which provides personalised guidance to improve adherence and inhaler technique.

Among their other quality accreditations, both sites are certified to ISO 14001 for an effective environmental management system.

*Certified circular polymer based on advanced recycling mass balance.