Custom blister packaging can be an excellent option for many different types of products. At Indepak, we’ve been designing different types of blister packs for more than 50 years. Whether you need to package office supplies, hardware, toys, personal care items, batteries, sporting goods, electronics or medical/pharmaceutical items, we can create a blister pack that meets your needs and budget.
Benefits of Custom Blister Packaging
1. Protective
Plastic keeps moisture away from your products, and plastic is durable and impact resistant. Many types of blister packaging are highly tamper-proof, as well.
2. Affordable
Plastic is the most inexpensive packaging material available, and the light weight also reduces your transportation costs.
3. Attractive
With clear blister packaging and almost unlimited design options, we can display your package to its best advantage, and allow consumers to see your product.
4. Recyclable
All of the plastics we use for blister packaging are recyclable, and many blisters incorporate paper/pulp, reducing the amount of plastic we need to use.
Types of Blister Packaging
In general, custom blister packaging includes two pieces, one of which is a clear plastic section with a custom cavity that fits perfectly around your product. The second piece typically is a study piece of pre-printer paperboard, known as a blister card.
Face Seal Blisters
This can be a very affordable option, and can be ideal for less expensive products. With a face seal, the plastic blister includes a custom cavity with edging that extends slightly beyond your product. These edges are sealed to the pre-printed blister card.
Full Face Seal Blisters
If you need a bit more protection, a full face seal blister extends the plastic all the way to the edge of the blister card. These are bit more durable than a face seal blister, but they also are a pricier option than the basic face seal blister.
Full Card Blisters
These are similar to full face seal blisters, but instead of sealing the plastic at the edge of the card, we add flanges to the end that will wrap around the card. This can just be used as is or it can be secured with staples.
Mock Clamshells
At Indepak, we can design either clamshells or blisters for your products. Clamshells are perhaps the most protective option for many products, and very tamperproof, but they are more expensive to produce than blister packaging, which is why a “mock” clamshell can be an affordable solution. With these blisters, there will be a small plastic lip added to the design that extends slightly past your blister card.
Trap Blisters
This is one of our areas of specialization. With a trap blister, we design a custom plastic cavity that fits around your product and this cavity is “trapped” or sealed between two pieces of pre-printed paperboard. Trap blisters can be a great option for companies that wish to reduce their use of plastic, yet still want a clear and attractive packaging option that allows consumers to see their product.
Pharma Blister Packaging
For our medical and pharmaceutical clients we can design custom base webs to hold single dose medications. We can produce low-particulate packaging intended for non-sterile or downstream sterilization applications. We provide detailed record keeping that ensures traceability down to the box level.
Blister Packaging Materials
At Indepak, our facility includes multiple lines industrial thermoforming equipment, allowing us to process many different types of plastic materials and meet the needs of a wide range of clients from many industries. Here’s a quick look at the types of plastic we can process.
PET/PETG
PET and PETG are perhaps the easiest plastics to recycle, accepted by all curbside recycling programs. PET is commonly used for plastic water bottles, but is approved for food contact, so it can be an excellent option for our specialty food clients, in addition to our clients searching for recyclable blister packaging materials for their retail or personal care products.
We can even use post-consumer recycled PET for food packaging as well as retail packaging. At Indepak, we also are PETG experts, as well, and this can be a very tricky material to process, but it offers glass-like clarity, a high level of heat resistance and it’s extremely strong.
HDPE
This plastic also is approved for food contact, and it’s often to create those little tubs of butter or cosmetics bottles. Highly recyclable, HDPE is also corrosion-resistant and chemical-resistant. Of course, it’s not just about food packaging or bottles, we sometimes can use HDPE to create blister packaging for many other products.
PP
Polypropylene is another option to consider for blister packaging as well as other types of packaging, including reusable containers for food storage. Because of its high level of moisture-resistance, chemical-resistance and durability, it’s often use to create bottle caps. PP also is a common choice for medical and pharma blister packaging.
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a very commonly used material in the blister packaging world. It can be used for pharma blister packaging as well as many retail products. Whether you need unit dose packaging or another type of blister packaging, PVC may be an affordable option for you to consider.
Starch-Based Bioplastics
While virtually all of the “traditional” types of plastic we use can be recycled, you also might want to consider using bioplastic for your blister packaging. While this is a more expensive option, it is a highly sustainable option which might be one of your primary considerations.
Keep in mind, we are experts in the creation of trap blisters, which can reduce the amount of plastic you need overall. Additionally, we may be able to create your blister packaging using materials with recycled content. Sustainability is definitely on our minds every time we design custom packaging.
Ready to get started with your blister packaging project? Contact us today.
