2 minute read
Sustainability
9 Sustainability Initiatives in Life Sciences
KEREN SOOKNE, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL CONTENT
1. There are numerous circularity initiatives across industries, including the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and LOOP. 2. Here, we highlight the rise in partnerships targeting sustainability specifi cally in life sciences and healthcare. 3. Goals range from cutting carbon emissions to bolstering reusables, cutting waste, and improving access to medication.
TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS
Earth Day should be every day—planetary health is critical. While there are numerous important cross-industry initiatives, this year, we took “offi cial Earth Day 2022” to focus on the rise in partnerships targeting sustainability specifi cally in life sciences and healthcare, from material sourcing to cutting carbon emissions in production and supply chains. 1. Alliance to Zero is a non-profi t partnership dedicated to enhancing sustainability throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain. It aims to facilitate the transition of the pharma sector to compliance with net zero emissions in line with the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. 2. Kilmer Innovations in Packaging (KiiP) is an industry initiative “solving wicked problems in healthcare packaging.” With one of their four focus areas dedicated to sustainability, they’re gathering passionate volunteer team members to tackle nebulous topics in medical device packaging, ultimately improving patient safety. 3. Global Self-Care Federation (GSCF) is a collaborative eff ort in the self-care industry, and they recently launched the Charter for Environmentally Sustainable Self-Care, which is “the fi rst industry-wide climate action resolution issued by the consumer health sector.” It seeks to minimize environmental impacts without compromising healthcare outcomes and safety, and counts Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, GSK, and Sanofi among its members. 4. Sustainable Medicines Partnership, is a not-for-profi t, private-public collaboration aimed at reducing the amount of eff ective medicines going to waste, cutting CO2 emissions, making medicine and knowledge more accessible, and more. They recently announced a partnership with the WPO (World Packaging Organisation). 5. Founded in 2010, the HPRC (Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council) is a private, technical consortium of industry peers across the healthcare, recycling, and waste management industries seeking to improve the recyclability of plastic products and packaging within healthcare. Comprised of globally recognized members, the HPRC engages in pioneering projects designed to help boost plastics recycling eff orts in the clinical settings of hospitals. They recently released fi ndings from their advanced recycling pilot. 6. Practice Greenhealth, working closely with Health Care Without Harm, is a membership and networking organization for sustainable healthcare that delivers environmental solutions to more than 1,100 U.S. hospitals and health systems. 7. ISTA’s Pharma Committee is a collaborative group (end users, suppliers, and service providers) working together on industry standardization for reusables in temperature-controlled life science products. 8. Glass Futures, is a UK-based yet globally reaching non-profi t researching the production of more sustainable glass. 9. Alliance to Modernize Prescribing Information (AMPI) is an eff ort to reduce prescribing label waste to healthcare providers. Members include AbbVie, AmerisourceBergen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Viatris, Pfi zer, Teva, and Fresenius Kabi.
Looking for more? Check out decarb:Healthcare and Kalundborg Symbiosis.
