Many global pharmaceutical firms have laid out ambitious sustainability targets and want to proceed from goal-setting to strategic implementation across the manufacturing real estate footprint. To help companies advance these efforts, we surveyed some of today’s life sciences engineering experts for insight on what it takes to bring sustainability ideals to life in engineering practices and CAPEX projects.

The recent Unispace Life Sciences Global Benchmark Report, Forefront, features results from a survey conducted with nearly 200 global industry experts as well as in-depth interviews with senior leaders at 12 blue-chip pharma companies.

At a high level, facility engineers are adapting quickly to sustainability needs—56% of the teams we surveyed report having sustainability goals. But the majority of those teams lack guidance or action plans to deliver on those goals at individual sites, let alone across a larger portfolio where all the buildings are different. As one process engineering director at a Top 20 Pharma company said, “We have corporate goals that are external public facing; landfill free, carbon neutral, etc., but do not have specific manufacturing goals beneath this.”

What’s more, many engineering leaders are tasked with accelerating sustainability while still safely operating in legacy manufacturing facilities and platforms that require maintenance and recapitalization.

So, what next? Below we’ll outline four baseline steps to consider on the journey to sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Step 1: Recognize the challenge

The general lack of clear sustainability roadmaps in pharmaceutical engineering is symptomatic of a larger set of issues. For one thing, 40% of sustainability projects are still competing against other projects for CAPEX approval, which can make it hard to “justify” investments—particularly when the results will be more or less impactful at different sites, depending on site-specific variables.

Another common issue is that site capacity may change significantly from year to year as teams add new infrastructure, accelerate production, and increase headcount while reducing overall carbon footprint.

Step 2: Use metrics to assess progress and opportunity for improvement

You can’t fix what you can’t measure, so a vast majority (85%) of our survey respondents say they use sustainability reporting frameworks to track, measure, and report success. Another 41% use green building certifications like LEED and ISO standards to inform sustainability strategy.

Every company’s solutions monitoring will look different, of course, but some project types are currently seeing significantly more investment than others. The top three areas of sustainable investment include reducing waste/recycling (78%), addressing electrical inefficiencies (68%), and optimizing energy and material usage (63%). Carbon emission reduction goals are also infiltrating procurement strategy, with 39% reporting using sustainability criteria to inform vendor selection criteria, and another 31% investing in supply chain carbon footprint analysis.

Step 3: Evaluate manufacturing design and standards for sustainability impacts

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of survey respondents bring a sustainability point of view to decision-making, from considering transportation-related emissions in materials selection to increasing scrutiny on the environmental impacts of air handling exchanges and pressure differentials.

Take single-use technologies, for instance, which many companies had quickly adopted to improve flexibility and efficiency. Now, however, engineering leads we spoke with are taking more time to understand the environmental impacts. This does not spell the end of single-use products, for the record. Single-use options can in some cases have a lower carbon footprint than reusable alternatives like stainless steel materials, which often involve extensive heavy solvent cleaning processes.

Shrewd planners are also evaluating how a given design or standard would perform against sustainability metrics in different locations. The global engineering director at a top 50 pharma firm shared this effective approach: “We’re using science-based targets, filtered down to a site level on what we want to achieve. There’s the scope 1/2/3/ global top-down approach from corporate, and then there’s the vision for each site. Each site reports back to the sustainability group on how they are meeting their targets.”

Step 4: Apply best practices holistically and locally across your network

Every sustainability strategy can make a difference, but the most strategic approach will be able to look at the biggest picture of a solution across the portfolio, without sacrificing the detail of a rich site-specific view.

As such leading organizations are currently looking across their networks to replicate sustainability successes, with site-specific needs. They are beginning to outline technical strategy roadmaps for sustainability implementation on sites, ensuring design manufacturing is fit for size and purpose. And 25% are working to drive solutions across their organization with plans to add a dedicated sustainability function at both site and corporate levels.

We can decarbonize pharmaceutical manufacturing, together

Today’s life sciences engineering leaders have a powerful opportunity to shape the roadmap to a more sustainable future. By identifying the challenges, leveraging metrics, evaluating design from a sustainability point of view, and sharing best practices, your team can help reach aggressive targets across your business—with profound ripple effects across the industry and beyond.

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As head of client relations, Aisling Crowley acts as a point of contact for Unispace Life Sciences’ clients. From the initial introduction of its team and services, to full project delivery, Aisling leads clients through an end-to-end account management experience ensuring they receive the services and resources required for project excellence and career success. With 10 years’ experience within the industry, Aisling has developed deep relationships with some of the world’s most influential life sciences engineering leaders. Aisling provides insights into the trends and developments within the industry looking at key topics including Pharma 4.0, digital transformation, facilities of the future, future of work, and women in pharma and STEM.