Sustainability in Pharma Supply Chains

Of all the elements of the industrial world, supply chains arguably have the most potential to harm our environment and greatly contribute towards the climate crisis. Refrigeration, the consumption of fossil fuels, the generation of waste, and more are all strongly associated with supply chain business.

However, this all means that the greatest potential to become greener and drive real sustainability also lies with supply chains, and perhaps nowhere is this more relevant than in the pharmaceutical industry.

COVID-19

Of course, no article on pharmaceutical supply chains in 2021 would be complete without mentioning the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. The global pandemic we have all been dealing with since the early days of 2020 has certainly brought pharmaceutical supply chains into sharp focus among the public as vaccine rollouts have made the long-standing issues surrounding medical logistics front-page news.

However, another side effect of the COVID-19 situation has been that it’s somewhat overshadowed the need to tackle the climate crisis in the hearts and minds of many people. Now that the immediate danger is beginning to recede, it is time to start seriously discussing climate change and the impact of pharma supply chains once again.

“The pharma industry’s contribution to environmental issues is expansive and linked to water and energy consumption, global distribution, large plant and warehouse footprints, R&D, the supply chain, and transport logistics,” writes CEO of AeroSafe Global, Jay McHarg. “While many companies are focusing on driving sustainability through their operations with incredibly ambitious goals over the next ten years, the opportunity to challenge pharma suppliers to go greener should not be overlooked.”

Alliance to Zero

This push in pharma to deliver a more sustainable supply chain has led leaders in the field to form a collaborative effort to drive real change. The Alliance to Zero initiative has a stated mission to help the industry advance towards the net-zero emissions goals laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement.

Alliance to Zero was founded by eight leading pharmaceutical brands – Ypsomed, Sharp, Health Beacon, Harro Höfliger, Datwyler, Dividella, SCHOTT, and Schreiner Medipharm – out of recognition that, while the topic is being discussed, the pharma supply chain is not doing enough to combat the threat presented by manmade climate change. It believes the only way to facilitate effective change in the industry is through collaboration, not just between pharmaceutical brands, but with the involvement of academia and other not-for-profit organisations with aligned goals.

“The formation of this alliance is the first step in a challenging but urgent journey that our member organisations have committed themselves to,” said President of the Alliance to Zero, Sebastian Gerner. “Enabling the launch of net-zero pharmaceutical products in regulated markets will require companies like ours to transform our operations, products, services, logistics, innovations, and investments. Our combined effort and our shared responsibility to ensure a real and lasting change is at the heart of the Alliance’s mission.”

Final Thoughts

The main issue with climate change is that we’ve wasted so much time arguing over whether the problem actually exists – something the science has been settled on for some time – and now it’s almost too late to do anything meaningful about it. Hopefully, that isn’t the case, and the clock has not yet run out. However, the time for action is now and its encouraging to see the pharma industry finally stepping up to its own responsibilities in this regard.