Deterra Drug Disposal Pouch Wins Packaging Awards for Bio-Based Material Use

The Deterra Drug Disposal Pouch, made with 50 percent or more I'm green bio-based polymer, has won multiple packaging industry awards for Accredo Packaging, including a Silver Award for Packaging Excellence and a Silver Award for Sustainability from the Flexible Packaging Association, and an Award of Distinction for Technical Package Design from PAC Global. The pouch, developed by Verde, is a patented technology designed to deactivate unused medications, preventing drug diversion and reducing the risk of pharmaceuticals leaching into groundwater and waterways.

 

The bio-based polyethylene used in the pouch is derived from renewable sugarcane rather than fossil fuel sources, and is supplied by Braskem under its I'm green bio-based brand. The material is intended to reduce the packaging's carbon footprint compared with equivalent fossil-based polyethylene while maintaining the technical performance required for pharmaceutical disposal applications, a use case with strict safety and functional requirements given its role in safely deactivating medication.

 

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Accredo Packaging, backed by API Group, incorporated the bio-based material into the pouch's flexible packaging structure through what the company describes as advanced film design, engineering and processing work, aimed at demonstrating that using bio-based materials and maintaining functional performance are not competing priorities. Andres Prince, Key Account Manager at I'm green bio-based, said "these awards are a testament to how I'm green bio-based portfolio enables our partners to meet the most rigorous technical standards and their sustainability commitments," adding that integrating renewable materials into a product like the Deterra pouch demonstrates "the transition to a bio-based economy is happening now."