What is Parcel Coat™
Pharmacies increasingly ship medications directly to patients for convenience and accessibility. With this, concerns around shipment safety and temperature stability are at the forefront on concerns for pharmacies, patients, and regulators. At Parcel Health, we pioneered a proprietary coating and layering mechanism — Parcel Coat — to provide water-resistance, sustainability, and short-term insulation to our packaging solutions.
In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of packaging materials efficacy—meaning how well can packaging materials maintain the integrity of medications—and the follow-on issues of both plastic and paper packaging.
Parcel Health’s Parcel Coat: a proprietary tech stack of compostable paper, food safe coatings and linings that is both recyclable and compostable.
The Importance of Safe Medication Packaging
Shipping medications requires careful attention to temperature control, durability, and sustainability. Many prescription drugs, including biologics, insulin, and specialty medications, require precise temperature ranges to maintain efficacy. Fluctuations in temperature can degrade the active ingredients, reducing their effectiveness and potentially leading to adverse health outcomes for patients.
Beyond temperature control, the packaging must also withstand the rigors of shipping, preventing breakage, moisture exposure, and external contaminants. Traditionally, plastic has been the preferred material due to its perceived durability. However, advancements in paper-based solutions are proving that they can compete—and even outperform—plastic in many respects.
Traditional Plastic Packaging: Benefits and Limitations
For decades, plastic has been the dominant choice for medication shipping materials due to its lightweight nature, strength, and moisture resistance. Insulated plastic packaging solutions, such as expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam coolers and plastic bubble wrap, have been widely used to protect medications during transit.
Advantages of Plastic Packaging:
Strong Barrier Properties: Plastic provides an effective barrier against moisture and contaminants.
Lightweight: Plastic is relatively light, reducing shipping costs.
Plasticity: Plastics can be molded into various shapes to enhance protection.
Challenges of Plastic Packaging:
Environmental Impact: Plastics contribute significantly to landfill waste, and many types are non-recyclable.
Light Transmission and Temperature: Plastic has good light transmission properties that can lead to creating a greenhouse effect in packaging. This can substantially increase internal packaging temperature when exposed to sunlight in a delivery vehicle or left out on the porch.
Durability vs. Sustainability: While plastic is rigid when first manufactured, exposure to UV light, temperature fluctuations, and humidity makes plastic brittle and lose structural integrity. It can lead to packaging cracking under pressure during transit, storage, or shipment.
As consumers and businesses become more environmentally conscious, the pharmaceutical industry has been exploring alternative materials that offer both sustainability and performance. This is where innovations such as Parcel Health’s Tully Tube come into play.
The Rise of Paper-Based Packaging Solutions
In recent years, the shift toward sustainable packaging solutions has accelerated due to growing environmental concerns and increasing regulations on single-use plastics. Paper-based packaging has emerged as a viable alternative, offering recyclability and biodegradability that align with eco-conscious consumer preferences. Companies across various industries, from food and beverage to pharmaceuticals, have begun incorporating paper-based solutions to reduce their carbon footprint. This shift has been largely driven by advancements in material science, allowing paper to serve a broader range of packaging needs than ever before.
Despite its many advantages, traditional paper packaging has faced challenges that have limited its widespread adoption. One of the primary concerns is its lack of durability and resistance to moisture, which has made it unsuitable for products requiring high barrier protection. Additionally, paper-based materials have historically struggled to match the insulating properties of plastics, making them less effective for temperature-sensitive goods. As a result, many businesses have been hesitant to fully transition away from plastic-based solutions due to concerns over product integrity and shelf life.
A Paper Revolution
As these concerns continue to challenge paper-based packaging manufacturers, some companies, including Parcel Health, have found innovative ways to bolster paper’s features, particularly insulation and durability. Parcel Health started a true ripple effect, revolutionizing the way we think about paper as technology with its launch of Tully Tube. Tully Tube, a paper-core bottle-shaped package, offers greater strength than plastic with temperature stabalizing benefits, too. These features are the result of Parcel Coat, Parcel Health’s proprietary compostable layering and coating technology that provides superior insulation and sturdiness.
Benefits of Parcel Health’s Tully Tube with Parcel Coat:
Superior Insulation:
Parcel Coat enhances the insulation properties of paper, helping to maintain the required temperature range for medications during transit. This makes it comparable—if not superior—to certain plastic insulation options, which can function like a greenhouse, allowing temperatures inside its plastic core to rise dramatically.
Increased Durability:
While traditional paper can be susceptible to tearing and water damage, Parcel Coat strengthens Tully Tube, making it resistant to wear and tear, even in humid or extreme conditions.
Sustainability & Compostability:
Unlike plastic-based solutions that contribute to long-term waste, Tully Tube is designed to break down into its core materials easily, so its paper and plastic components can be curbside recycled thereby reducing environmental impact.
Pharmaceutical Compliance & Protection:
Tully Tube meets UPS standards required for pharmaceutical packaging, including humidity resistance, lightproof and water resistance.
Cost-Effective & Lightweight:
Paper-based solutions are often lighter than plastic, reducing overall shipping costs while maintaining effectiveness.
The Future of Medication Packaging
With global sustainability efforts gaining traction, businesses, including pharmacies, are under increasing pressure to adopt eco-friendly practices. Plastic packaging bans and the shift toward biodegradable solutions make paper-based packaging innovations like Tully Tube a compelling alternative.
Parcel Health is at the forefront of this transformation, providing a solution that balances performance, protection, and sustainability. As pharmacies look for ways to enhance their shipping operations while reducing their carbon footprint, switching to Tully Tube can be a strategic and responsible choice. That is why we feature our Impact Calculator on our Resources page, so interested stakeholders can see for themselves, their potential carbon mitigation by making the switch to Tully Tubes.
A Parting Thought…
When it comes to keeping medications safer and cooler during transit, paper packaging—particularly with innovations like Parcel Health’s Tully Tube—is proving to be a viable and superior alternative to plastic. The future looks bright for pharmaceutical-grade protection and environmental sustainability. At Parcel Health, research, development, testing and customer feedback drive everyday operations, to optimize products and continue to lead the industry with the finest eco-friendly solutions. After all, we’re on a mission to fill medicine cabinets with safe parcels, not plastics.