Behind Healthcare Packaging Innovation: A Conversation with EK-Pack’s Head of R&D

I started my career with an apprenticeship as a chemical technical assistant. After a short time in the food production industry, I joined the plastics industry at EK-Pack about 14 years ago, starting in quality control. After a few years, an opportunity opened up to move into R&D, and I took it. In parallel I completed a Bachelor of Science in Plastics and Rubber Production and Management (CCI), which gave me a deeper technical foundation for the work I was already doing in R&D.

Yes, it came in 2018. That year, we installed and commissioned a new cast co-extrusion line. I was involved from the very earliest development phase right through to implementation. Being part of that entire journey made something click for me. I realised just how much I enjoy the versatility of R&D—the constant need to adapt, problem solve, and translate technical knowledge into practical solutions.

There is no typical day, which is exactly why I enjoy the role. Some days are focused on core R&D work: understanding customer applications, developing the right material formulations, and analysing how different polymers interact. This also includes close collaboration with suppliers and customers.

Other days I’m more hands-on at the production line. During trials, I work closely with operators to understand how materials behave in real processing conditions, optimise performance, and evaluate results immediately so we can make informed decisions quickly.

Two major areas stand out. The first is regulatory compliance. Packaging regulations are evolving rapidly, particularly with PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation). It restricts certain hazardous substances, such as heavy metals and PFAS, so we constantly need to monitor regulatory developments and ensure our materials meet all requirements.

The second is recyclability, especially in food and healthcare packaging. We’re working intensively on mono-material structures, designed so they can be more easily collected, sorted, and recycled within existing waste streams. That’s technically demanding because we’re trying to match the performance of multilayer materials using a single polymer family.

R&D is the starting point of the entire product development process, so decisions made at this stage have a direct impact on safety and performance and ultimately impact the end user. It’s essential to fully understand the device and product application and design materials accordingly. By building compliance with ISO standards and regulatory requirements in the very beginning, we ensure patient safety isn’t an afterthought. It’s built into the process from the very beginning.  

What excites me most is how quickly the role of packaging is evolving. It’s no longer just a protective layer around a product; it’s becoming a much more active part of the overall patient experience. Packaging can influence how patients understand, use, and engage with their medication, and that has the potential to genuinely improve outcomes.

As healthcare continues to shift more towards home care, packaging also needs to become more intuitive and user-friendly. You have to think about someone opening a medical product at home who may be elderly, anxious, or using it for the first time. That creates a very different design challenge compared to traditional hospital environments, and I think there’s a real opportunity to improve accessibility and ease of use.

Connected packaging is another area with enormous potential. Technologies such as QR codes, NFC, and embedded sensors could help improve patient adherence, provide real-time information, and improve traceability across the supply chain, particularly for personalised medicine and biologics.

Sustainability is one of the biggest drivers for innovation and it has significant technical challenges. The industry is under increasing pressure to reduce environmental impact, but healthcare packaging still has to meet very demanding performance and regulatory requirements. There is no one simple solution.

A major focus for us is developing more recyclable or mono-material solutions that can still perform like traditional multilayer laminates that were originally designed to combine different functionalities into a single structure. At the same time, we’re also looking at ways to reduce overall material usage, improve processing efficiency, and explore the use of alternative or recycled raw materials where appropriate. The challenge is balancing sustainability ambitions with the very high performance expectations healthcare packaging has to meet.

Being part of solving those challenges and helping shape where the industry goes next is really exciting to me.