engleski

The influence of artificial aging on recyclability and mechanical stability of pharmaceutical packaging

Recycling of wastepaper and packaging is one of the most desirable options for the purposeof preservation the environment and increasing the sustainability of production. Changes in customer behaviour have increased a demand for packaging materials, such as the growth of online shopping and/or demand for optimal sized packaging foods and medicines. During storage and transport, products can be exposed to different weather conditions, which ultimately affects their quality and disposal. Therefore, in this paper, the influence of moisture and temperature on the mechanical properties of pharmaceutical packaging as well as on the possibility of their recycling was investigated. The printed and formed pharmaceutical packaging was subjected to a process of accelerated aging in a chamber under the action of temperature and humidity, according to standard methods and defined conditions. Thereafter, the samples were subjected to mechanical testing to determine the effect of moisture on the mechanical properties. In addition, the impact of moisture on pharmaceutical packaging recycling performance was examined. Recycling was carried out in laboratory conditions by chemical deinking flotation according to the INGEDE 11 method, while the obtained recycled laboratory sheets were characterized by the determination of optical properties and the image analysis. It was found that the mechanical properties of the tested pharmaceutical packaging were deteriorated. From the results obtained by determination of the optical properties, in recycled samples the brightness decreases with aging. As the sampleages, the printing ink binds to the recycled fibres, so the ERIC is lower in recycled fibres obtained from non-aged samples compared to the old ones. The CIE coefficient b* is higher for samples obtained from recycling of aged pharmaceutical packaging than for samples obtained from recycling of non-aged samples, and aged recycled samples will be yellower than non-aged ones. Therefore, the whiteness is lower in recycled fibres obtained from aged samples. When measuring the image analysis, the obtained results show that the number of ink particles and their surface area are significantly reduced with the duration of aging time.

pharmaceutical packaging, artificial aging, recycling, mechanical properties

The authors are grateful for the financial support of the University of Zagreb.