Billerud has officially introduced PharmaKraft, a specialized fibre-based packaging material carefully designed for non-sterile dry pharmaceutical applications. This newly developed product utilizes fresh fibre featuring tightly controlled purity characteristics to meet rigorous industry demands. As a notable addition to the market, this offering provides a reliable pharmaceutical packaging option for companies requiring high-quality material solutions.
Advancing Sustainable Material Solutions
The material serves as a practical solution for pharmaceutical packaging converters and industry brand owners who are actively assessing packaging options for various formats. Specifically, the product is intended for deployment in sachets, stick packs, strip packs, and blister lidding solutions. By utilizing this advanced fibre-based packaging material, industry participants can maintain high operational standards while incorporating renewable raw materials into their manufacturing supply chains.
Addressing the evolving landscape of the sector, Billerud medical senior segment manager Florian Schäffeler said: “Healthcare packaging is entering a period of transformation. With PharmaKraft, we have created a platform that enables innovation, supports sustainability goals, and helps accelerate the shift from conventional packaging structures to paper-based alternatives made from renewable resources.”
Support for Qualification and Validation Processes
A defining characteristic of PharmaKraft is that it is fully recyclable and manufactured utilizing renewable raw materials. The production process ensures full traceability, a critical feature intended to efficiently support necessary qualification and validation processes. Consequently, the material remains optimally suited for non-sterile dry pharmaceutical applications that fundamentally require specific converting performance, exact process control, and unyielding purity standards.
Expanding Broader Production Capabilities
PharmaKraft seamlessly joins the established portfolio of Billerud healthcare solutions. The existing line includes SteriKraft and MediKraft, both of which are consistently utilized for demanding medical packaging applications.
Beyond these targeted medical packaging applications, the wider product range managed by Billerud is highly comprehensive. The manufacturer supplies cartonboard, containerboard, sack paper, kraft paper bags, flexible kraft paper, medical kraft paper, speciality formable paper, and liquid packaging board. Furthermore, the company produces graphic and label papers, a category encompassing coated sheets, web papers, WC caliper web, coated digital inkjet papers, and label papers.
To support this extensive output, Billerud continues to optimize its manufacturing infrastructure. Last year, the business upgraded a critical paper machine at its Gruvön mill in Sweden. This initiative included the installation of a new headbox as part of a project aimed at improving the performance of its Billerud Flute containerboard. The advanced headbox is intended to enhance fibre orientation and sheet formation, thereby delivering higher strength characteristics across the finished product line.
