Plastification & Printing

A customized, original and informative finish by plastification and printing is the ideal solution for adding value and security to your package. A plastic coated glass bottle preserves the intrinsic qualities of glass as the primary packaging option for pharmaceutical products.

Plastification serves as protection against mechanical shocks (current EEC regulation 75/324 makes the plastic coating of glass bottles for aerosol uses compulsory).

• It shields the contents from light transmission.
• Moreover, plastification makes your pharmaceutical package distinctive and improves the image of your product

The plastification:

1. The process uniformly coats a glass vial with a thin and protective film of plastic made of 60% PVC.
2. The bottles are held securely by specially designed fixtures inside the neck. They are then pre-heated at more than 400°C and dipped into a PVC bath.
3. They are immediately inverted before proceeding to a heating station at 250°C to allow the coating to set.

Plastification and printing have been done for 40 years at the SGD Sucy-en-Brie (France) factory, which is entirely dedicated to pharmacy. The SGD factory is the only one to manufacture the bottle and do the plastification at the same facility, thus offering unmatched security of supply. For this reason, the global leaders in the pharmaceutical industry place their trust in SGD.

Printing:

After re-heating, round bottles are transferred to a serigraphy machine and printed in 1 to 3 colours on request. After drying, the bottles are carefully packed in either shrink-wrap modules or in cartons.

Aesthetic & personalization

Plastic coating, as an aesthetic and innovative presentation of the bottle, is an answer to the development of speciality bottles. Applied to a glass bottle of any shape or size, plastification offers many possibilities of finish and personalisation. As a valuable finish, plastic coating provides a softer touch to the bottle and an extra protection. The plastic coating can be finished with serigraphy using UV ink, allowing marketing differentiation with decoration, logos, instructions for use and legal information. The plastic-coated bottles can also be provided with a label or be shrink wrapped with a printed sleeve.

At a time when generics and OTC drugs are rapidly growing, this technique offers marketing opportunities for new products such as syrups or children's medications.

In terms of decoration, multiple colours and coating options are available:

• clear
• sparkly or pearlized
• glossy or matte opaque
• frosted

Other options are possible once validated through testing.