Shaping Circular Pharma Packaging: What Sustainability Means for Tub & Nest Systems

Muri, Switzerland — September 2026 — Sustainability has become one of the most important conversations in pharmaceutical packaging. But in highly regulated life-science applications, sustainability cannot be treated as a simple material switch or a marketing claim.

Packaging for pharmaceutical products has to meet strict requirements: cleanliness, product protection, dimensional stability, process compatibility, transport safety, and reliable handling in automated filling environments. Any sustainable concept must work within these realities.

This is especially true for Tub & Nest systems.

Packaging that does more than protect

Tub & Nest systems are an important part of the injectable drug delivery supply chain. They support the safe handling, storage, sterilization, transport, and filling of sensitive products such as prefilled syringes, vials, and cartridges.

For customers, the value is practical: each unit remains structured, protected, and positioned for repeatable workflows. In aseptic filling environments, this can help reduce manual handling, support automated processing, and improve line reliability.

In other words, packaging performance is part of process performance.

Why circularity is complex in pharma packaging

Circularity in pharmaceutical packaging is a relevant goal — but it is also a complex engineering challenge.

In many other industries, sustainable packaging can often be approached through recycled content, material reduction, or mono-material solutions. In life-science and pharmaceutical applications, the situation is more demanding.

The packaging must continue to meet requirements for hygiene, particles, mechanical stability, sterilization compatibility, and line integration. It must protect the product, support validated processes, and remain reliable from manufacturing to filling.

That means sustainability has to be developed carefully and realistically.

From sustainability ambition to technical feasibility

At Fischer Söhne AG, we see sustainability in pharma packaging as a development topic that requires collaboration across the value chain.

The key questions are not only:

Can the material be recycled?

Can the design be adapted?

Can the environmental footprint be reduced?

The more important questions are:

Does the solution still protect the product?

Does it remain compatible with existing processes?

Can it be handled reliably on filling lines?

Can it meet quality and cleanliness requirements?

Can it be scaled in a practical way?

Only when these questions are answered together can a sustainable concept become a real solution.

Responsible manufacturing as a foundation

Sustainability does not start at the end of a product’s life cycle. It begins with how products are developed, produced, and delivered.

For Fischer Söhne AG, this means focusing on responsible manufacturing, practical innovation, efficient production processes, and long-term partnerships with customers. It also means looking at material use, process stability, quality assurance, and logistics as part of the overall sustainability picture.

A packaging solution is only truly sustainable if it performs reliably in the customer’s process.

Tubs & Nests: future-ready by design

The future of Tub & Nest systems will not be shaped by one single solution. It will be shaped by many practical improvements: smarter design, careful material evaluation, efficient production, process-compatible concepts, and close cooperation between packaging manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, filling partners, and equipment providers.

At Fischer Söhne AG, our goal is to contribute to this development with solutions that combine three priorities:

Efficiency. Quality. Circular thinking.

We believe the next generation of pharma packaging must support reliable processes today — while opening the door to more sustainable solutions for tomorrow.

Meet us at CPHI Milan 2026

From 6–8 October 2026, the global pharma community will meet at CPHI Milan at Fiera Milano, Italy. The event brings together companies and decision-makers across the pharmaceutical supply chain — from packaging and drug delivery to contract services, machinery, bioproduction, and finished dosage. Sustainability will also play a prominent role, including the CPHI Sustainability Summit, which takes place alongside the event on 6–7 October.

For Fischer Söhne AG, CPHI Milan is a valuable opportunity to continue the conversation around future-ready pharmaceutical packaging, Tub & Nest systems, process reliability, and sustainable concepts for life-science applications.

Are you attending CPHI Milan as well?

Let’s meet and discuss what circular pharma packaging can look like in practice.

You will find us at booth 11K106.

Fischer Söhne AG

Life Science. Packaging Solutions.

www.fischersoehne.ch