SUPPLY AND LOGISTICS
energy research technology organisation Cenex, the average diesel trailer TRU produces around 8 tonnes of tailpipe CO2 a year – equal to the annual output of four average UK cars. An obvious way to reduce the carbon
emissions caused by cold chain shipping is by investing in greener fuels and energy sources for transport vehicles. Hydrotreated vegetable oil, a renewable, bio-based fuel that can be used in diesel engines, can reduce greenhouse regular diesel. Other alternative fuels include renewable counterparts, biomethane and tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with diesel over a two-year period.
invest in localised manufacturing – producing the medicines nearer to where they’ll be used – as a means of reducing the carbon footprint associated with pharmaceutical distribution. “Can we reshore certain pieces of the manufacturing process, to optimise the amount of time a product has to be maintained within a storage environment or shipped amongst the different transportation solutions?” he asks. “Anything that reduces the complexity of the supply chain, and the number of movements that need to occur, is seen as a good thing.”
Packaging and pollution It’s not just fuel consumption that makes cold secure cold chain solutions for the air transport of pharmaceuticals. He says the environmental impact of cold transport can be reduced by adopting alternatives to ‘passive packaging’, which consists of less-than-eco-friendly single- use plastics, dry ice, and cardboard, to keep medicines at a stable temperature. “An ‘active’ solution is different; it’s more
economy where sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling is central to their design.” Over the lifetime of their use, these thermally
controlled containers are environmentally superior, he says. “In fact, greenhouse gas
emissions associated with active solutions considering an extra leg of return transport.” Whether passive or active systems are
employed, reducing the amount of packaging materials used can make a big difference. By in transport vehicles, pharma giant J&J cut the amount of packaging used to transport its space means fewer vehicles are needed to transport the products – which translates into lower carbon emissions at the distribution stage of the supply chain.
A greener future for pharma? The solutions for an eco-friendlier supply chain are gaining traction in the pharma industry – but is there a desire to change? Weng is hopeful that the industry will move in that direction in the next decade. “But the strongest force will come from the market itself – just the inability to do business as usual will be the main driving force for companies to think, at a fundamental level, how they could replace non-sustainable steps with more sustainable biology-based approaches.” stricter environmental standards or incentivising greener operations, would also help to push pharma companies in the right direction, Weng adds.
from executives across the pharmaceutical sector to achieve net zero goals, but eco- friendly technology and greener methods must be applied throughout a drug company’s value chain in order to meaningfully reduce the industry’s impact. “If the industry is to serve its mandate correctly, it needs to think holistically, right across the value chain,” he says. “If we want to be net zero, all aspects of the value chain need to be achieving the net zero purpose, not just outsourcing the bits that pharmaceutical industry will eventually make the shift to greener operations and achieve a smaller carbon footprint. There has been a growth in the desire to do so, he says. of our sector, I do believe that it will take
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