Packaging, supply & logistics
is a growing recognition that these practices must also consider their environmental impact. With these pressures in mind, at any rate, no wonder attention is turning from transportation to warehousing. “We can’t do what we want, we have a responsibility,” stresses Dr Jean-François Fusco, chairman of the European Association for Logistics and Transportation in Healthcare (EALTH). “There is a process.” Created to provide logistics and transport companies a voice in European institutions, and bringing deep expertise to sector challenges, it equally makes sense that EALTH should be at the forefront of making the industry greener. As Fusco puts it: “We have been aware for so many years that something has to be done concerning the carbon footprint.”
Beyond changing sensibilities, at any rate, there are clear practical reasons to focus on warehousing. If, after all, planes and trucks contribute heavily to carbon emissions, storing medical devices also has a significant environmental impact. Enter carbon-neutral warehousing – a concept that reimagines the storage and handling of medical devices with sustainability at its core. At its heart, this approach aims to reduce the carbon emissions associated with storage facilities through innovative energy solutions and operational efficiencies. For life science and healthcare logistics firms, this means integrating solar panels, optimising energy consumption, and embracing new technologies that reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Rules and procedures Traditionally, the storage of medical devices has been governed by stringent regulations to ensure that products remain in optimal condition from the point of manufacture to their final use. Returning to ISO 13485, this regulation highlights the relevant warehousing and storage issues, such as temperature control, alongside other quality standards, for medical device companies to follow. “Each product has its own specificity for storage and transportation,” Fusco explains. “We have to guarantee [each product so that] the manufacturer trusts us to keep their product and distribute them.” In practice, that means storage facilities are typically energy-intensive, relying on constant temperature control, precise humidity regulation, and secure environments to prevent any degradation of sensitive equipment. For instance, active medical devices, such as pacemakers and diagnostic implants, require specific conditions to maintain their functionality and safety. This often means using conventional energy sources like electricity generated from fossil fuels, which contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of these operations. While these methods have been effective in ensuring the safety and efficacy of medical devices, meanwhile, they have also highlighted the need for more sustainable approaches as environmental
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
concerns become increasingly pressing. One of the most promising aspects of carbon-neutral warehousing is therefore the use of solar energy. Medical warehouses, which require significant amounts of energy for climate control, lighting, and equipment operation, are ideally suited for solar panel installations. The vast rooftops of these facilities can be outfitted with solar panels, generating clean energy that powers everything from air conditioning units to automated storage and retrieval systems. “We have to incorporate these new low emissions and new energies,” is how Fusco puts it. Solar panels, he adds, are a common alternative energy to meet the various energy needs that a medical device warehouse would require. That includes coolrooms, robots, and temperature control. More to the point, there’s clear evidence that logistics giants are integrating these innovations into their logistics buildings. DHL, for example, has been installing solar panel solutions on the roof of its warehouses in Australia as far back as 2017 – and has recently added a so-called ‘Urban Power Station’ at its HP 8 warehouse in Sydney. Requiring vast amounts of energy to keep medical products and devices cool all day, the warehouse boasts some 5,500 solar panels, together generating 40% of the site’s electricity. From there, solar energy can also be used to charge electric vehicles within the warehouse fleet, further reducing reliance on carbon-intensive transportation methods.
Going green for greenbacks This transition to solar power is not just environmentally beneficial – it is also economically advantageous. As the cost of solar technology continues to fall, and with oil and gas prices remaining volatile, solar energy offers a more stable and cost- effective alternative. According to one study, for instance, the UK warehousing sector can cut its electricity costs by 40-80% by installing solar panels. Life science and healthcare logistics firms that invest in solar infrastructure for their warehouses can therefore significantly reduce their energy bills – which, in turn, can enhance their bottom line while contributing to broader corporate sustainability goals. Nor does success even require that much effort: by building 15GW of new solar panels on the available roof space in the UK, the warehousing sector could reduce carbon emissions by two million tonnes annually, while equally saving sector accounts some £3bn a year.
Not, of course, that this energy revolution can happen in a vacuum. A key difficulty across the life science and healthcare warehousing sector is the need for precise temperature control, particularly for devices sensitive to temperature fluctuations. “We have to guarantee the temperature during transportation or during storage,” Fusco warns. “When you have an electric part, special attention must be paid to humidity
£3bn Solar Fast 131
The amount the UK warehousing sector could save annually by equipping roofs with solar panels.
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