Better together: choosing the right partnership
Eastman outlines its partnerships when it comes to innovating in a sustainable manner.
You’ve heard it said time and time again: “We’re all in this together.” What does that mean amid mountainous challenges? The world has seen many hurdles over the last few years — a pandemic, supply chain challenges and inflation — all while the climate crisis continues to affect our daily lives. These issues can cause both people and companies to retreat into themselves rather than truly working together.
Like nurses and doctors in a hospital, companies throughout the medical packaging value chain rely on each other and their specialties to keep the healthcare industry going and to keep patients safe — regardless of the challenges.
Eastman and its partners are building a pathway to sustainability for the healthcare industry where it seemed impossible. The introduction of Eastar Renew 6763 copolyester to the marketplace and the value chain partners’ adoption of it have brought recycled material into a marketplace that’s traditionally tough to make sustainable while navigating extraordinary supply challenges, inflation and the demands of a healthcare system still recovering from COVID-19.
Industry-shifting technology
“Molecular recycling is a game-changing technology that has implications for the whole world, not just the medical industry,” said Heather Singler, commercial director for medical at Eastman. “With Eastar Renew 6763, companies can certify that plastic waste is being diverted from landfills while continuing to use a product with the same toughness, safety and product performance trusted for decades. Eastar copolyesters continue to be the gold standard for the industry.”
Eastar Renew is powered by Eastman’s molecular recycling. That sets it apart from traditional mechanical recycling methods. By breaking down plastic waste to the molecular level for purification, Eastman expands sourcing opportunities and produces materials that are indistinguishable from virgin materials. This molecular recycling technology enables the use of Eastar Renew in even the most demanding medical applications, ensuring the highest standards of quality and performance.
Medical device sterile barrier packaging made from Eastar 6763 with 50% certified recycled content* offers the same puncture and chemical resistance and ease of processing as Eastar 6763 without compromising on quality. This chemically and structurally identical solution eliminates the need for extensive testing required for new medical products.
Driving a shift to sustainability
Much of Eastar Renew’s success is due to the enthusiasm of Eastman’s partners, who are educating their customers on the product’s benefits and encouraging them to try it. Companies like Pacur and Klöckner Pentaplast (kp), long-standing partners of Eastman, have shown considerable interest in Eastar Renew due to the increasing demand for sustainable solutions from their customers. As good stewards of the environment, these companies recognise the importance of bringing recycled content to medical packaging without compromising quality, cleanliness and protective properties.
Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson MedTech Company, became the first healthcare company to use medical-grade Eastman Renew material in its packaging when it adopted Eastar Renew 6763 in the fall of 2022.
“Eastman, with the help of partners like Ethicon, Pacur, kp and Nelipak, will leverage molecular recycling to enable the medical industry to divert plastic waste from landfills and catalyse circularity for its packaging,” said Scott Ballard, Eastman plastics division president.
“Renew has a lot of interest from our OEM partners,” said John Carlson, CEO of Pacur, a four-decade Eastman partner that has used Eastar 6763 since product launch. “Sustainability is of interest to them. Just as good stewards to the environment, they want to deliver better solutions to the market.”
This comes as no surprise as many hospitals, GPOs and IDNs are looking into sustainability as a part of their sourcing criteria due to ESG goals and even to avoid future tax burdens of virgin plastic use. Eastar Renew can help meet those needs right now, especially with Eastman starting up the largest molecular recycling facility in the world by the end of the year.
Pacur announced in late August that they are adopting Eastar Renew as part of their portfolio.
“Eastman and Pacur have been partners for over 40 years,” Carlson said. “Launching Eastar Renew is yet another way our companies have used our unique relationship and different expertise to innovate and create a more sustainable industry.”
“Our tagline at kp is, ‘The sustainable protection of everyday needs,’ which sums it up very well,” said Kirstin Hedin, kp vice president of product line and marketing. “We work with our business partners, like Eastman and others, to innovate industry-disrupting technologies that genuinely move the needle of sustainability.”
Resiliency and innovation
Eastman's partnerships have not only facilitated innovation in production but also played a crucial role in mitigating potential incidents. In 2022, a steam line rupture at Eastman's Kingsport site caused a delay in the production of Eastar, which coincided with the emerging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a volatile economic environment.
Through collaborative efforts and constant communication, Eastman and partners managed to prevent any impact on patients. Despite the challenges faced during the pandemic and global supply chain disruptions, they found creative solutions to maintain a steady supply of essential medical materials.
Eastman produced Eastar at close to double its normal run rate for several months after manufacturing resumed. Much like a critical care team, consistent collaboration with supply chain partners, some of whom altered their shipping methods and made other changes to adapt, resulted in zero impacted patients.
“This was a high-stress situation for the value chain, but we were outpacing the market’s ability to make up for that lost time,” said Brad Potter, marketing director for Eastman. “We all leaned in according to our specific areas of expertise.”
That impact was further complicated by worldwide supply chain issues in 2022, forcing Eastman and its partners to get creative. Kp worked with Eastman to airfreight raw materials to Europe and other parts of the world and fill supply demands. For Pacur, this disruption involved daily talks about what products were needed when and prioritising orders to keep the most essential items moving.
“There was some tension, but at the end of the day, we had a greater understanding of the full end-to-end supply chain and what our partners can do for each other,” Carlson said. “We stayed very, very close (with Eastman) through those months. That laid the groundwork of what we do today.”
Achieving sustainability one challenge at a time
Despite the challenges, Eastman and partners like Pacur and kp continue to tackle the world’s problems with products like Eastar Renew 6763 while ensuring the product arrives when and where it’s needed most.
When challenges abound, leave it to the specialty innovators who, instead of retreating into themselves, look to their partners and work together to make the industry more sustainable — one innovation at a time.