Sterimed: the world's first manufacturer of sterilization packaging materials to offer solutions based on renewable resources for the healthcare sector

The sterile medical device packaging market is a specialty market in the healthcare world. The packaging guarantees both proper sterilization and maintenance of the sterile state of the medical device until its use on a patient. It is an essential part of fighting infections.

With close contact with medical device manufacturers as well as with the sterilization consumables purchasing departments of hospitals all over the world, this French leader has been able to focus its corporate culture on the needs of customers in the sterilization sector. health. And gained unique expertise from it.

From this borderless expertise focused on the protection of medical devices against contamination induced from manufacturers to hospital users, Sterimed has developed unrivaled skills in the transformation of its own materials to secure the efficiency of its operations and constantly maintain the quality of its products. products.

The first global manufacturer to offer packaging materials based on renewable resources for the medical device industry and healthcare establishments to patients, the Group packages a quarter of medical devices around the world with its products.

The reasons for this industrial success? Complete control and traceability across the entire value chain, from substrates (medical papers and films) to assemblies to offer a tailor-made solution to its customers - sometimes even going as far as its own distribution to hospitals in 10 countries. But also both horizontal and vertical integration in its market: an invaluable asset which gives it the capacity to co-develop innovative medical packaging products internally in all its branches and countries adapted to each need. Today and tomorrow.

With its 1,400 employees around the world, its 12 production sites and 10 distribution and sales centers spread across 120 countries, the Group intends to grow its activities in its existing markets while consolidating its industrial presence in regions where its presence is still too weak. It therefore plans to double in size again in the next 5 years, after quadrupling in the last 5 years.

Integrating innovation as much as possible to follow an eco-design strategy, improving the consumption of raw materials, production conditions as well as the lifespan of products constitutes the key point of the Group's development policy.

To ensure responsible development, the issues of energy consumption, water and recycling represent the three major axes of its CSR policy. In particular the modernization of its production tools allowing it to obtain better energy performance: this is how 94% of the group's energy comes from renewable sources.

Water, for its part, one of the essential components in the manufacture of paper which is the core business of its Palalda site, undergoes particular attention: 95% of the water taken is returned to the river, and the rest to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor. At the same time, over the last three years, the Group, thanks to its innovation efforts, has managed to reduce its water consumption by 22%. The French site is also one of the only factories in the world with zero C02 production thanks to its biomass boiler and aims to become one of the first with zero waste.

Beyond the operational side, Sterimed focuses on tailor-made product developments and develops materials, processes and designs that place the concern for sustainability at the heart of the product. More concretely? A medical device using Sterimed porous-based packaging reduces the amount of plastic by an average of 30%. It is also the guarantee of the use of more than 80% renewable and biodegradable material.

Concerned about its footprint, the Group nonetheless remains equally concerned about the well-being of its employees thanks to a strong corporate culture associated with a fair sharing of value.

This indeed forms the DNA of the French leader. Since its beginnings, Sterimed has always sought to involve as many of its employees as possible in its entrepreneurial adventure. Three employee shareholding plans have been put in place since its creation in 2016, with the aim of offering each employee the opportunity to become a shareholder of the Group. Result: in 2022, Sterimed can already boast of having almost half of its employees - or 600 people - shareholders.

In addition, over the course of its new acquisitions and team building, the managers, families and entrepreneurs are all associated with the capital of Sterimed and its management: 26 managers of the Group thus form a collective of managers-shareholders-entrepreneurs bearing the same ambitions and the same values.

At Sterimed, the entrepreneurial adventure is indeed collective. Another reason which explains the industrial success of this French leader across the globe.

Content designed and offered by L’Agence Delta. The editorial staff of Le Figaro did not participate in the production of this article.