Beyond Quality: PAT as a Catalyst for Carbon Reduction in Pharma
Introduction – the urgent call for sustainability in pharmaceuticals
In modern pharmaceutical manufacturing, efficiency and sustainability are no longer separate priorities, but two sides of the same coin. Many sustainability strategies in pharmaceuticals are already emphasising the shift to relying on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind [1], and prioritising digitising their data to trace their environmental impact and increase their supply chain visibility [2]. As governmental targets for net-zero loom closer, the call for sustainability in all areas of development and manufacturing is becoming more urgent [3].
This urgency is coming from multiple directions. Firstly, governments are putting significant effort into quantifying their Scope 3 emissions, and imported medicines contribute significantly to this total. Sustainability considerations are becoming increasingly important to decision-making processes, with over 94% of healthcare professionals saying environmental sustainability will influence their treatment decisions by 2030 [4]. For example, in the UK, the NHS became the first healthcare system in the world to commit to a net-zero target in October 2020, and many other governments are not far behind. Medicines account for one quarter of the NHS’ total carbon emissions, with the rest mainly in manufacturing and the medicines supply chain [5]. By 2027, the NHS is requiring its medicines suppliers to publish meaningful carbon reduction plans, which highlights the urgent need to understand and improve sustainability within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry [6]. This has led to pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca to announce ambitious Net Zero carbon reduction plans, where they state they are on-track to reduce their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their global operations by 98% by 2026 [7].
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