Achieving Sustainability in
an Evolving Pharma Sector
Life sciences companies look
to utility savings, collaborative product development and serialization to go
green
An
aging world population and improved healthcare availability in emerging markets
are driving demand in the pharmaceutical industry while creating new norms
throughout the marketplace. As a result, manufacturers must cater to demands
for a wider variety of pharmaceutical products. This can require changes to
production that conflict with sustainability objectives.
Notably, a shift
toward smaller batch runs that enable product diversity but require more
frequent changeovers can create significant obstacles for pharma companies
looking to reduce energy consumption and overall environmental impact.
Additionally, advancements in drug delivery add to growing variety. Accurate
dosing is of the utmost importance, so when patients and consumers achieve
better results with oral, injectable or nasal sprays versus other formats, companies
have strong incentives to offer those new delivery mechanisms.
The resulting
challenge to the industry is accommodating even more demanding production
schedules and product variety in the most sustainable way possible.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers must implement packaging solutions that minimize
the environmental impact of expanding product lines, build sustainability
practices into the development of new delivery systems, seek utility savings in
new automation strategies and leverage serialization.
Functionality first
In
a sustainability strategy, it’s important to remember that any packaging which
falls short of serving its purpose is never sustainable — no matter the
material reduction, recyclability or use of recycled materials. In pharma
manufacturing, the patient needs are the most important considerations. The
goal is to achieve a safe delivery to the patient along with all necessary
components and instructions for an effective application.
When considering the
packaging operations of a pharmaceutical company, the patient, efficacy and
sterility are always the most important elements. For example, a pain relief
product must maintain its promised levels of effectiveness while that drug
travels throughout the supply chain. Failure of the packaging to protect
against elements like light and air that could jeopardize product effectiveness
is not characteristic of a sustainable solution. Neither is any packaging that
fails to protect the product against contaminants.
Lightweighting of
blister pack materials, for example, may leave a product vulnerable to
contamination; therefore, manufacturers must look to other areas where savings
are possible. More plausible strides could be made with technology as more
efficient sealing has the potential to reduce material usage and wastage.
However, given the tight parameters enforced by regulators, it can be a
challenging balance to achieve.
Packaging also plays
an essential role in providing the track-and-trace and authentication measures
that guard against counterfeiters and tampering. Packaging that cannot support
these functions is no longer part of a sustainability-enhancing strategy and
only contributes to fully costed waste.
Build waste
reduction into product development
Although
the high efficacy, sterility and safety standards of the pharmaceutical and
medical device industries provide some barriers to traditional avenues of
material savings, these two sectors have seen a rise in collaborative problem
solving to drive innovation in many areas, including sustainability. Combining
pharmaceutical products with medical device delivery systems means overall
products become simpler and more convenient, ultimately requiring less
packaging. An example of this collaboration in action is the work carried out
by both pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in the implantable
devices space. Pill bottles, for example, can now be equipped with digital
timestamp readouts that remind patients to take their medication, and are able
to be monitored remotely by a doctor to ensure patients take the correct
dosages.
As healthcare
treatments become more complex, the pharmaceutical and medical device
industries will continue to merge their technologies and expertise to deliver
patient solutions that combine pharmaceuticals and medical devices into one
simple and convenient product — ultimately presenting opportunities to become
more sustainable through consolidation. The approach is a win-win, enabling
innovation to address better patient compliance, to utilize unique drug
delivery methods and to improve package integrity and product safety.
Invest in energy-
and utility-saving solutions
Medication
for patients is becoming more personalized and specific. As a result, the
concept of million-bottle runs for a particular dosage is becoming a thing of the
past for many companies.
To meet the demand
for more personalized products, driven largely by the decline of blockbuster
drugs, the explosion of biologics and the growing use of generics, so-called
micro runs are now commonplace. These require lines to be stopped often for
small tweaks (more tablets or different dosages), and during that time the
lights are on, the line is operational but not producing. The additional energy
required for all of that changeover presents a challenge on the sustainability front,
prompting manufacturers to re-evaluate their operations for opportunities to
gain back efficiencies, energy and utility savings.
Pharmaceutical
companies work tirelessly to reduce the amount of power, air or water used on a
line. For example, reducing the amount of heat used to shrink a lid is
sustainable, as is looking at ways to reduce water consumption, or to optimize
utility usage such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). Some
are also giving serious consideration to clean technologies, such as solar,
wind or power generated by biofuels, which is a huge step forward.
Sustainability
through serialization
A
new need that can be related to sustainability is serialization. The
serialization of pharmaceutical products has been mandated for six years now
and asks that pharmaceutical products are tracked from their point of
manufacture to when they reach the patient. Where serialization is concerned,
manufacturers need to make sure the information used to track products is
readable throughout the supply chain — including human readable codes. The
package therefore needs to be big enough to carry that information.
Sustainability also
enters the equation because serialization provides a much better window to the
manufacturer as to a product’s location and eventual distribution. This allows
them to create the correct number of products, which saves on production and
therefore elements such as material and energy usage, and even distribution.
While it is not designed to be more sustainable, serialization increases supply
chain visibility and therefore adds to the overall control and sustainability
of a product.
Sharing ideas and
experiences is vital
For
pharma manufacturers, sustainability will always be a challenging area to
address, but a multifaceted approach can provide the most effective results.
Operating amid a strict regulatory environment that governs patient safety and
product effectiveness, these companies must often look beyond the more
traditional paths to achieving strides in environmental responsibility. Through
collaboration, innovation and thoroughly evaluating existing operations and
practices, life science companies can implement sustainable initiatives with
impact.
By Tom
Egan, Vice President, Industry Services, PMMI, The Association for Packaging
and Processing Technologies
https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2018/achieving-sustainability-in-an-evolving-pharma-sector/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=65042401&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-99WVmDlFh_1uIZshjAuDWN6jL55V3BfYdgoYHy97ZZ0qScVZDiiAhE-ZDsGI96iCO_vYKPuheTccZ1IgnFaQXpK9jcTQ&_hsmi=65042401
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