TekniPlex Healthcare, which utilizes advanced materials science expertise to help deliver better patient outcomes, has become the first healthcare solutions company to introduce bio-based compounds for medical plastics applications whose performance and compositional properties are equivalent to conventional polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins. Certified through the globally recognized International Sustainability & Carbon Certification PLUS (ISCC PLUS) system, the bio-based medical-grade PVC compounds utilize resins and plasticizers manufactured with renewable energy and bio-attributed classification. The compounds are equivalent to traditional medical-grade PVC in terms of chemical composition, functionality and regulatory viability.

As the healthcare industry increasingly emphasizes eco-friendliness and carbon footprint reduction, TekniPlex Healthcare’s bio-based, medical-grade PVC compounds enhance sustainability profiles without sacrificing the reliable performance for which traditional PVC compounds are known. The bio-based compounds are a drop-in replacement for a wide variety of injection molded or extruded PVC compounds utilized in a broad array of applications, including tubing solutions such as IV therapy tube sets, drip chambers, and peristaltic pump tubing; films used for trays, pouches, bags and other form-fill-seal settings; and other components composed of medical-grade plastics. 

Offering excellent cost-performance characteristics, TekniPlex Healthcare’s new bio-based PVC compounds can reduce CO2 output/emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional PVC resins, and approximately 60% relative to traditional PVC plasticizers. Produced at the company’s manufacturing facility in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the material’s ISCC PLUS certification assures its production and distribution via a transparent and traceable supply chain.

“The ability to produce a broad array of medical-grade PVC solutions with bio-based compounds is a significant step forward in healthcare materials science sustainability,” said Meg Henke, Global Head of Product Management for TekniPlex Healthcare. “We’re proud to be the first to introduce such a groundbreaking capabilities set, which brings the potential to substantially reduce our customers’ overall CO2 output while staying unwaveringly true to our top priority of delivering better patient outcomes.”