Sustainability has become a core focus for the pharmaceutical industry but achieving environmental goals while maintaining operational efficiency presents unique challenges. From energy-intensive lab processes to complex supply chains, pharma leaders must navigate a multifaceted path toward greener practices. In this Q&A, Paul Zuechner, director of sustainability and reliability engineering at Thermo Fisher Scientific, shares insights on how labs can reduce their environmental footprint.

Q: What types of challenges does the pharmaceutical industry face when trying to meet sustainability goals? 

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A: Aligning pharmaceutical manufacturing with green initiatives while maintaining efficiency and compliance requires a comprehensive approach that integrates energy and resource efficiency, waste reduction, green chemistry, and sustainable sourcing throughout the supply chain. By utilizing technological innovations, adhering to regulatory standards and fostering industry collaboration, pharmaceutical companies can reduce their environmental impact, lower operational expenses and meet both regulatory and sustainability benchmarks. These strategies not only benefit the environment but can also offer a competitive edge for companies to meet the growing demand for sustainable and ethical products.

Q: How do pharmaceutical labs contribute to the industry’s overall environmental impact?

A: Pharmaceutical labs contribute to the industry’s overall environmental impact through supply chain management and waste management as well as logistics and transportation. While I’ll delve into supply chain management later, it's essential to recognize how these aspects are all interconnected through the supply chain. 

Waste management is the process of collecting, processing, and disposing of waste materials, which, if not done properly, can result in significant environmental impact. Effective waste management begins with minimizing waste at its source by incorporating reusable and recyclable materials in the lab and reducing the need for excessive disposables. These practices can also be implemented throughout the supply chain, during stages like logistics and transportation. 

While sustainability in the lab is a key first step, transporting products and materials efficiently provides an opportunity to further reduce emissions. Initiatives such as optimizing logistics, minimizing air transport, investing in electric vehicle fleets, and participating in carbon offset programs are some of the many strategies to enhance sustainability within supply chain and logistics management. By reducing a lab's footprint from the moment scientists step through the doors to when the final products leave, labs play a significant role in minimizing resource consumption and waste production, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally responsible industry.

Q: What are some of the most energy-intensive processes in pharmaceutical labs, and how can they be optimized for sustainability? 

A: Pharmaceutical manufacturing can be energy and resource-intensive, making it a focus area for sustainability measures. A key step in minimizing the environmental impact of manufacturing is the adoption of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies. Recently, we’ve seen pharma companies working toward carbon neutrality by turning to renewable energy sources and cutting emissions across their entire supply chain. Additionally, adopting a circular economy model can ensure that materials and resources are continually reused within the pharma manufacturing system. 

Many such initiatives help reduce waste, by reusing materials or recycling solvents and other chemicals to decrease landfill usage. For example, industry leaders in biopharma sustainability are reducing plastic packaging by transitioning to recyclable or biodegradable packaging, adopting sustainable bio-based single-use devices (SUDs) and advancing zero-waste-to-landfill strategies while improving product life cycle management.  

Q: What steps can pharmaceutical companies take to make their lab supply chains more sustainable?

A: The foundation of a sustainable supply chain lies in fostering a culture of transparency between pharma companies and across their network of suppliers and partners. Sustainable supply chain management, particularly in sourcing and improving supplier practices, can drive broader industry change. Pharma companies must integrate sustainability commitments into supplier contracts, enforce transparency and ethical standards across the value chain, and require certifications to ensure ethically sourced materials—all while aligning with regulatory frameworks for supply chain accountability and sustainability. 

In addition to a focus on transparency, industry leaders should prioritize supply chain resilience. This involves developing flexible strategies that can quickly adapt to disruptions by identifying potential risks, diversifying suppliers, and creating back-up plans to maintain operations and minimize long-term impacts when challenges arise. These efforts play a vital role in advancing environmental sustainability and social equity by promoting responsible practices throughout the supply chain, which simultaneously benefit overall business outcomes.

Q: What key performance indicators (KPIs) should labs track to measure sustainability improvements?

A: To measure sustainability improvements, pharma leaders can leverage life cycle assessments (LCA) and environmental impact monitoring strategies. LCAs identify areas of high environmental impact within the production process, providing opportunities for waste reduction, energy savings, and using more sustainable materials. By using LCAs to streamline the manufacturing process, pharmaceutical companies can identify opportunities to improve sustainability without compromising product quality or regulatory compliance. This may involve conducting LCAs on pharmaceutical products to evaluate their environmental impact from production to disposal. Additionally, companies could implement LCA software to monitor and analyze environmental impact, leveraging the insights to enhance processes and develop more sustainable formulations.

Q: If you could recommend one major sustainability initiative for every pharmaceutical lab to adopt, what would it be?

A: While there’s not a one-size fits all solution for sustainability, implementing more environmentally conscious and green chemistry initiatives in product design can have a lasting impact. In pharmaceutical labs, green chemistry principles can help achieve a sustainable drug design that minimizes chemical waste, energy consumption, and toxic byproducts while promoting the use of more sustainable, renewable and biodegradable materials in manufacturing. 

By following regulatory frameworks that support green chemistry innovations, companies can introduce more sustainable and compliant processes.