What Plastic Is Blister Packaging Made Of?

Blister packaging is most commonly made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or PP (polypropylene) — with PVC historically dominating pharmaceutical applications and PET increasingly preferred for retail and consumer goods due to its superior clarity and recyclability. The specific plastic chosen depends on the product being packaged, barrier requirements, cost constraints, and sustainability targets. This guide breaks down every major plastic used in blister packaging, compares their properties side by side, and explains which material is right for which application.

What Is Blister Packaging and How Is the Plastic Formed?

Blister packaging is a pre-formed plastic cavity — the "blister" — sealed against a backing material such as foil, paperboard, or another film layer to enclose and protect a product.

The plastic component is produced through thermoforming: a flat sheet of plastic is heated until pliable, then drawn over a mold using vacuum pressure, compressed air, or both. The result is a rigid three-dimensional cavity that precisely conforms to the shape of the product inside. After filling, the cavity is sealed with a lidding material — typically aluminum foil in pharmaceutical applications or printed paperboard in retail packaging.

The global blister packaging market was valued at approximately $28.5 billion in 2023 and is projected to exceed $40 billion by 2030. Pharmaceuticals account for roughly 60 percent of all blister pack usage by volume, with consumer goods, electronics, and food packaging making up the remainder. The type of plastic used varies substantially across these sectors.

The Main Plastics Used in Blister Packaging

Five plastics account for the vast majority of all blister packaging produced globally: PVC, PET, PETG, PP, and PVDC-coated films — each with a distinct set of properties that make it suited to particular products and industries.

1. PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) — The Traditional Standard

PVC is the most widely used plastic in pharmaceutical blister packaging and has been the industry default for decades due to its excellent thermoformability, low cost, and reliable sealing performance.

PVC sheets for blister packaging are typically 200 to 300 microns thick and can be thermoformed at relatively low temperatures (around 130 to 160 degrees Celsius), making it easy to process on standard packaging lines. It offers adequate moisture barrier properties for many solid oral dosage forms such as tablets and capsules, and it bonds reliably to aluminum foil lidding using heat-seal lacquers.

However, PVC has significant drawbacks that are driving many manufacturers to seek alternatives:

• It is difficult to recycle and is rejected by most curbside recycling programs (resin code 3).
• It releases hydrogen chloride gas and dioxins when incinerated, raising environmental and health concerns.
• Its moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) of approximately 3 to 5 g/m2/day is insufficient for moisture-sensitive products without additional barrier coatings.
• Several European countries and large retail buyers have policies actively limiting or eliminating PVC from packaging.

Despite these issues, PVC remains dominant in markets where cost is the primary driver and recycling infrastructure for alternatives is limited. A standard pharmaceutical-grade PVC blister film costs approximately $1.20 to $1.80 per kilogram, making it one of the cheapest options available.

2. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) — The Clear, Recyclable Alternative

PET is the fastest-growing plastic in retail blister packaging because it combines exceptional optical clarity, good stiffness, and wide recyclability (resin code 1) at a competitive cost.

PET produces blisters with a glass-like transparency that makes products visually prominent on the shelf — a critical factor in consumer goods packaging for electronics accessories, hardware, toys, and cosmetics. Its thermoforming temperature range is slightly higher than PVC (around 140 to 180 degrees Celsius), but it is compatible with most modern packaging lines with minimal adjustment.

From a barrier perspective, standard PET has a moisture vapor transmission rate of approximately 15 to 20 g/m2/day — considerably worse than PVC — which limits its use for moisture-sensitive pharmaceuticals without additional barrier layers. However, for retail products where moisture is not a concern, this is irrelevant.

PET is widely accepted in curbside recycling programs across North America, Europe, and Australia, which has made it the preferred material for brands with published sustainability commitments. Recycled PET (rPET) content of 30 to 100 percent can be incorporated into blister sheet without significant loss of forming performance.

3. PETG (Glycol-Modified PET) — Premium Clarity and Formability

PETG offers superior thermoformability and impact resistance compared to standard PET, making it the preferred choice for deep-draw blister packs with complex geometries or thin wall sections.

The glycol modification disrupts PET's crystalline structure, lowering its forming temperature and increasing its ductility. PETG can be drawn into cavities up to three times deeper than its sheet thickness without tearing — a significant advantage when packaging bulky or irregularly shaped items. It also has excellent cold-temperature impact resistance, which matters for products stored or transported in refrigerated conditions.

PETG costs roughly 15 to 25 percent more than standard PET and is not accepted by all PET recycling streams — a complication that limits its sustainability appeal despite being technically recyclable. It is widely used in medical device packaging, premium cosmetics, and specialty consumer electronics.

4. PP (Polypropylene) — Heat Resistance and Chemical Compatibility

PP is the best choice for blister packaging when the product requires heat sterilization, high-temperature resistance, or compatibility with aggressive chemical formulations.

Polypropylene has a melting point of approximately 160 to 175 degrees Celsius, the highest of any common blister packaging plastic. This allows PP blisters to withstand autoclave sterilization at 121 degrees Celsius — essential for medical devices and surgical instruments. PP also has excellent chemical resistance, making it suitable for packaging products that contain solvents, oils, or active pharmaceutical ingredients that would degrade other plastics.

PP's moisture vapor transmission rate (approximately 0.5 to 1.5 g/m2/day) is significantly lower than PVC, PET, and PETG, making it an effective moisture barrier without additional coatings. However, PP is more difficult to thermoform than PVC or PETG — it has a narrower processing window and tends to spring back after forming, which requires more precise temperature control and tooling.

PP is recyclable (resin code 5) and increasingly accepted in curbside programs, though collection rates remain lower than for PET (resin code 1) in most markets. Its optical clarity is lower than PET or PETG, giving blisters a slightly milky or hazy appearance.

5. PVDC-Coated and Laminated Films — Maximum Barrier Performance

PVDC (polyvinylidene chloride) coatings applied to PVC or other base films deliver the highest moisture and oxygen barrier performance available in thermoformed blister packaging — essential for highly sensitive pharmaceutical products.

A standard PVC/PVDC laminate with a PVDC coating weight of 40 g/m2 reduces the moisture vapor transmission rate to approximately 0.5 to 1.0 g/m2/day — ten times better than uncoated PVC. Higher PVDC coating weights (60 to 90 g/m2) push this to below 0.2 g/m2/day, matching the barrier of aluminum cold-form foil at a fraction of the rigidity cost.

The downside of PVDC is that it shares PVC's environmental problems — it is chlorinated, difficult to recycle, and problematic to incinerate. Cold-form aluminum foil (also called Alu-Alu packaging) is the preferred alternative when maximum barrier is required without using chlorinated plastics, though cold-form foil is opaque, eliminating product visibility.

Blister Packaging Plastics Compared: Full Property Matrix

The table below summarizes the key technical and commercial properties of each major blister packaging plastic to help you identify the right material for your application.

Table 1: Full property comparison of the five major plastics used in blister packaging across clarity, barrier, formability, heat resistance, recyclability, cost, and application sector. *PETG may not be accepted in all PET recycling streams.

Blister Packaging Plastic by Industry: Pharmaceutical vs. Retail vs. Food

The plastic used in blister packaging varies dramatically by industry because each sector has fundamentally different requirements for barrier performance, sterilization, regulatory compliance, and consumer appeal.

Pharmaceutical Blister Packaging

PVC remains the dominant material in pharmaceutical blister packaging worldwide, used for approximately 80 percent of solid oral dose unit-dose packs globally.

Regulatory requirements in pharmaceutical packaging are stringent. The plastic must be chemically inert with respect to the drug substance, must meet pharmacopeial standards (USP, EP, JP), and must be validated for its specific drug product. PVC satisfies these requirements at low cost, which is why it persists despite environmental concerns.

For moisture-sensitive drugs with a shelf life requirement of 24 months or more, PVC is often laminated with PVDC or upgraded to cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) or cyclic olefin polymer (COP) films — advanced materials that offer MVTR values below 0.05 g/m2/day. These materials are significantly more expensive but may be required by stability testing data.

Retail Consumer Goods Blister Packaging

PET dominates retail blister packaging because its crystal clarity maximizes product visibility, and its recyclability satisfies the sustainability commitments of major retail buyers.

Hardware, electronics accessories, toys, personal care items, and stationery are almost universally packaged in PET or PETG blisters when thermoformed plastic is used. The shift away from PVC in retail has been accelerating: many major retailers have internal policies requiring suppliers to eliminate PVC from consumer product packaging by specific deadlines.

Clamshell packaging — a variation of blister packaging where the front and back are formed from a single piece of plastic folded and sealed at the edges — is almost exclusively made from PET or PETG for retail applications.

Food Blister Packaging

PP is the preferred plastic for food blister and tray packaging because of its food-contact regulatory compliance, moisture resistance, and ability to withstand microwave heating.

Chewing gum, confectionery, dietary supplements, and certain convenience food formats use blister packs made from PP or PET. PP's low MVTR makes it particularly well-suited for moisture-sensitive food items like hygroscopic supplements. For refrigerated or frozen food applications, PETG is sometimes preferred because of its superior low-temperature impact resistance compared to PP.

Table 2: Most commonly used blister packaging plastic by industry, the primary reason for selection, and viable alternative materials.

Sustainability and Recyclability of Blister Packaging Plastics

PET is the most recyclable blister packaging plastic in real-world conditions, while PVC and PVDC-coated films are the most problematic from an end-of-life perspective.

Recyclability of blister packaging is complicated by the fact that most blisters are multi-material — a plastic forming web combined with an aluminum foil or paperboard lidding. Separating these layers for recycling is rarely practical at consumer level, which means most blister packs end up in landfill regardless of the plastic resin used.

The packaging industry is exploring several pathways to improve the sustainability profile of blister packaging:

• Mono-material structures: Using PET for both the forming web and the lidding film (heat-sealed PET-to-PET) creates a single-material pack that is technically recyclable in PET streams. Several pharmaceutical and consumer goods manufacturers have successfully converted to mono-PET blister systems.
• Recycled content: Incorporating 30 to 100 percent post-consumer recycled PET (rPET) in the forming web reduces virgin plastic consumption without compromising forming performance or regulatory compliance in non-pharma applications.
• Bio-based plastics: Bio-PET (produced from sugarcane ethanol rather than petroleum) and polylactic acid (PLA) are emerging alternatives. PLA blisters are compostable under industrial conditions, though they lack the moisture barrier and heat resistance of conventional plastics for most applications.
• Paper-based forming webs: Fiber-based blister forming materials with a thin plastic barrier layer are entering the market, offering a packaging format that consumers perceive as more sustainable even when it is not necessarily fully recyclable.

How to Identify the Plastic in a Blister Pack

The easiest way to identify the plastic in a blister pack is to look for the resin identification code printed on the packaging — a number from 1 to 7 inside a triangle of arrows.

• Code 1 (PET): Clear, stiff, recyclable. Most retail and consumer goods blisters.
• Code 3 (PVC): Clear to slightly yellowish, rigid. Most pharmaceutical pill blisters. May have a slight chemical smell when cut.
• Code 5 (PP): Slightly milky or hazy. Used in food, medical, and some pharmaceutical packs.
• Code 7 (Other): Includes PETG, COC/COP, and other specialty plastics. Common in premium medical and pharmaceutical packaging.

If no resin code is visible — which is common on small blisters — a simple burn test can help differentiate materials in a laboratory setting, though this is not practical for consumers. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is the standard analytical method for definitive plastic identification in packaging research and quality control.

Frequently Asked Questions About Blister Packaging Plastic

Is blister packaging plastic safe for food and pharmaceuticals?

Yes, when the correct plastic is used and it meets the applicable regulatory standards. Food-contact plastics must comply with FDA regulations (in the United States), EU Regulation 10/2011 (in Europe), or equivalent national standards. Pharmaceutical blister plastics must meet pharmacopeial standards and be validated for chemical compatibility with the specific drug product. PVC, PET, and PP are all approved for food and pharmaceutical contact when produced to the appropriate grade.

Can blister packaging plastic be recycled?

In theory, yes — PET and PP blister plastics are recyclable. In practice, most blister packs are not recycled because they are multi-material structures (plastic plus aluminum foil or paperboard) that are difficult to separate, too small for sorting equipment at materials recovery facilities, and often contaminated with drug residue in pharmaceutical applications. Mono-material PET blister packs with a PET lidding film offer the best real-world recyclability if accepted by local collection programs.

Why is PVC still used in blister packaging if it is difficult to recycle?

PVC persists because it is inexpensive, extremely easy to thermoform on existing packaging lines, and has decades of validated performance data in pharmaceutical applications. Switching to an alternative material requires re-validation of the packaging system — a process that can take 12 to 24 months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for a pharmaceutical product. Cost and regulatory inertia are the primary reasons PVC remains dominant in pharma despite its environmental profile.

What is the difference between a blister pack and a clamshell package?

A traditional blister pack has a thermoformed plastic front cavity sealed to a flat backing (foil, paperboard, or film). A clamshell is a variation where the entire package — front and back — is thermoformed from a single sheet of plastic and folded shut, then heat-sealed or secured with staples at the perimeter. Both use the same plastic materials (predominantly PET and PETG in retail), but clamshells are fully plastic with no separate backing material.

What plastic is used in push-through pill blister packs?

Push-through pharmaceutical blister packs — the type where you press a tablet through the foil backing — are almost always made from PVC or PVC/PVDC laminate for the forming web. The lidding is typically a soft aluminum foil coated with a heat-seal lacquer on the inner surface. The PVC forming web is specifically engineered to be thin enough (200 to 250 microns) to rupture cleanly when pressed from above.

What is cold-form blister packaging and what plastic does it use?

Cold-form blister packaging — also called Alu-Alu packaging — does not use a thermoformed plastic web at all. Instead, a laminate of aluminum foil sandwiched between a nylon layer and a PVC layer is cold-stamped (formed without heat) into cavities. The result is an opaque silver pack with near-perfect moisture and oxygen barrier performance. It is used for the most sensitive pharmaceutical compounds. The PVC layer in cold-form laminates is present primarily as a heat-sealable layer, not as a structural forming material.

What is the most sustainable plastic for blister packaging?

For real-world sustainability, PET — especially rPET with high post-consumer recycled content — is currently the most practical choice. It is widely recyclable (code 1), compatible with existing recycling infrastructure, available with 30 to 100 percent recycled content, and delivers the optical clarity that retail applications require. Bio-based and compostable alternatives such as PLA show promise but currently lack the barrier performance, heat resistance, and regulatory approval for most pharmaceutical and food blister applications.

Summary: Choosing the Right Plastic for Your Blister Packaging

The right plastic for blister packaging is determined first by your product's barrier requirements, then by regulatory constraints, then by sustainability goals, and finally by cost.

For standard pharmaceutical solid oral dose products, PVC remains the practical default — though companies with active sustainability programs are increasingly moving to PP or COC/COP films backed by regulatory re-validation investment. For retail consumer goods, PET or PETG is the clear choice, offering superior clarity, broad recyclability, and growing retailer acceptance. For medical devices requiring sterilization, PP or PETG with compatible sterilization validation is the standard approach. For any application involving moisture-sensitive products and long shelf life, a PVDC-coated film or cold-form aluminum alternative must be seriously evaluated.

Understanding what plastic blister packaging is made from is not just a materials science question — it is a decision that affects product safety, shelf life, environmental impact, and commercial competitiveness. Selecting the correct material from the outset, backed by stability data and end-of-life analysis, is the foundation of a well-designed blister pack.