While in recent decades pharmaceutical achievements such as vaccinations, antibiotics and cancer drugs have had a significant positive impact on our quality of life and life expectancy, the long-term ecological consequences have been largely ignored. Yet the health sector accounts for a higher share of global greenhouse gas emissions than the aviation industry. It is therefore important to give the issue of sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry greater attention. A rethink is also being forced by forthcoming and in part already existing EU directives such as Fit for 55 and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
But how do sustainability and production fit together in the pharmaceutical industry? The transition to more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes does not always have to result in cost disadvantages for a company. In this white paper, a team of experts from umlaut examines three specific practical examples of how sustainable production can be designed in the pharmaceutical industry and what potentials this offers. The paper not only looks at how much CO2 can be saved, but also includes all three dimensions of sustainable development - environmental, economic and social.
