Marchesini Group, the packaging multinational headquartered in Pianoro in Emilia Romagna's packaging valley and one of the world leaders in the sector, is preparing for Pharmintech powered by IPACK-IMA and its return to the trade fair world with a wide range of collateral events and technological proposals that will see innovation and sustainability take centre stage.

The Group will be present at the fair in Milan with important innovations: in Hall 2, stands A34-A44-B35-B45, visitors will be able to get hands-on with the latest green solutions, developed by the Group with a view to meeting the new needs of the pharmaceutical industry. These are the MA 80 cartoner and a FB220 thermoforming machine with eco-friendly materials. Also on display will be an INTEGRA 720 V, an innovative integrated robotic line for the packaging of blisters in cartons, and machines from Dr. Bonapace, a brand that recently became part of the Group, specialising in the pharmaceutical sector for the production of capsules, tablets and suppositories. In addition, there are also a number of solutions for the cosmetics industry, produced by the brands that are part of the Marchesini Group's cosmetics division.

The technological offering presented at the fair by Marchesini will therefore emphasise sustainability, a daily theme for the company. The decision to invest in the circular economy, in fact, is part of a rapidly evolving strategic plan, communicated starting in 2015 with the presentation of the first Sustainability Report, in which the Group's environmental, social and economic-financial responsibility initiatives were presented. In anticipation of the 2021 Report, Marchesini Group has announced further investments in the development of new sustainable packaging materials.  Pietro Cassani, CEO of the Marchesini Group, commented on this point:

"The solutions we are presenting at the exhibition combine innovation with sustainability, looking at the needs of the pharmaceutical packaging market. In particular, we will be carrying the MA80 cartoner with paper tray, a machine designed for cartoning products such as syringes, inhalers, bottles and tubes, which operates at a speed of 120 cartons per minute. The MA 80 is designed to lay products in cardboard trays as an alternative to thermoformed trays. Cardboard trays are an environmentally friendly alternative that is increasingly popular with customers because they are as reliable as PVC trays. They can also protect fragile and expensive products such as syringes and vials, presenting them in a modern way and offering advantages in terms of storage and transport due to their small footprint."

Marchesini Group has set up a dedicated team to design customised cardboard trays for packaging products for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics markets. Using prototypes and models, the trays are fine-tuned so that customers can optimise the entire packaging line, from the process through to cartoning and palletising. In this process, the use of robotics is essential to create ad hoc feeds for handling, tray filling and subsequent product insertion. In most cases the shapes and sizes of plastics can be replicated through cardboard solutions for both standing and lying products.

Another novelty presented by the Group is the FB220 thermoforming machine with eco-friendly materials: one of the innovative elements is the introduction in the packaging processes of technologies aimed at gradually replacing PVC with highly recyclable materials in the thermoforming of blisters and trays.

In two years of experimentation and collaboration with some of the leading industry players - suppliers Klöckner Pentaplast, Huhtamaki, AMCOR, Paccor (Faerch Group), Encaplast - our technicians have worked to obtain blisters and trays that can be easily disposed of in normal waste recycling channels," adds Cassani. In particular, the use of plant-derived and compostable materials such as PLA, i.e. recyclable together with the wet waste, and R-PET, PET recycled up to 80%, allowed the creation of mono-material packs perfectly suited to the purpose. At Pharmintech, visitors will be able to see the first public demonstration of the use of these products on one of our machines". 

The FB220 machine - a thermoforming machine used to form trays for ampoules, vials and syringes - will in fact be called upon to take on a new challenge, with a setting for the use of sustainable materials instead of traditional plastics, thus allowing the customer to choose either the classic or the green setting and to see live at the fair how it performs in use. 

Finally, in addition to its participation in the exhibition, the Group will be involved in various events organised at its headquarters in Pianoro, Bologna. Simultaneously with Pharmintech by IPACK-IMA, the Open Door Pharma, dedicated to pharmaceutical solutions, will take place. From 2 to 6 May, the headquarters will host a wide selection of machines and lines capable of packaging different types of products, showing important innovations. Customers will be able to see a total of one hundred machines at the event, which will also cross the borders of Pianoro. At the request of customers, the Marchesini Group will also give them the opportunity to visit the other plants throughout Italy, with the aim of showing them the latest technologies developed in the field of processing and packaging pharmaceutical products.