Billerud launches PharmaKraft for dry pharmaceutical packaging

SWEDEN – Billerud has introduced PharmaKraft, a fibre-based packaging material for non-sterile dry pharmaceutical applications, designed for converters and brand owners assessing options for sachets, stick packs, strip packs and blister lidding solutions.

PharmaKraft is recyclable, made from renewable raw materials and produced with full traceability to support qualification and validation processes. 

The material uses fresh fibre with controlled purity characteristics, intended for pharmaceutical applications that require specific converting performance, process control and purity standards. 

Traceability matters in pharmaceutical packaging qualification, where regulators require documented evidence that materials meet defined specifications and that supply chains can be audited from raw material through to finished pack.

Paper-Based Format Targets Conventional Structure Replacement

Billerud medical senior segment manager Florian Schäffeler said healthcare packaging was entering a period of transformation. 

He added that with PharmaKraft, the company had created a platform enabling innovation, supporting sustainability goals and helping accelerate the shift from conventional packaging structures to paper-based alternatives made from renewable resources. 

Dry pharmaceutical formats including sachets and stick packs have historically relied on multi-material laminates that combine paper, aluminium foil and polymer layers to deliver moisture and light barrier properties, structures that recyclers cannot easily separate.

Extends Existing Healthcare Packaging Portfolio

PharmaKraft joins Billerud’s existing healthcare packaging products, SteriKraft and MediKraft, which are used for medical packaging applications. 

The company’s wider product range includes cartonboard, containerboard, sack paper, kraft paper bags, flexible kraft paper, medical kraft paper, speciality formable paper, liquid packaging board, and graphic and label papers. 

The latter category includes coated sheets, web papers, WC caliper web, coated digital inkjet papers and label papers.

Earlier Upgrade Targeted Containerboard Strength

Last year, Billerud upgraded a paper machine at its Gruvön mill in Sweden with a new headbox, as part of a project aimed at improving the performance of its Billerud Flute containerboard. 

The headbox is intended to enhance fibre orientation and sheet formation, delivering higher strength characteristics. 

For pharmaceutical brand owners, fibre-based materials offer a route to reduce plastic content in dry product packaging while maintaining the barrier and machinability requirements that dosing accuracy and shelf stability demand, provided qualification testing confirms performance across filling lines and distribution conditions.

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