Cleaner production aspects of tablet coating process in pharmaceutical industry: problem of VOCs emission

Abstract The aim of the article is to present a case study related to implementation of cleaner production (CP) process with the concept of minimizing emissions versus the end of pipe (EOP) approach within pharmaceutical industry. The idea is to move beyond simple pollution control by technology improvement and prevention of organic solvents emission into the atmosphere. Furthermore, cost-effectiveness of the suggested approach is evaluated compared to traditional concepts of polluted air treatment, ensuring both environmentally friendly and effective production of film coated tablets. Technological changes to improve the impact on the environment have been applied already in many industries as well as in pharmaceutical manufacturing. However, more effort is to be made in order to further decrease particularly VOCs emission into the atmosphere. An analysis is provided to stimulate a proactive approach in this field towards completely eliminating the use of organic solvents from film-coating systems in the production of the pharmaceutical solid dosage forms. The new way of addressing the costs actually associated with embracing cleaner technologies, which are mostly related to regulatory aspects in pharmaceutical industry, is aimed to promote the change in culture, as well as to be applied in the decision making process for other pharmaceutical facilities still using organic solvents based coatings in the manufacturing of tablets. The significance of the small scale projects is additionally emphasized considering the magnitude of the world generic market.