A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW
The box of pills in your medicine cabinet may be exacting a higher toll on the environment than the car parked in your garage, as LISA WITEPSKI discovers
Manufacturing as a whole has a dubious reputation when it comes to the environment, and pharmaceutical manufacturing is no exception. According to a 2021 article by the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, “the global pharmaceutical industry … produces 13 per cent more carbon emissions making medicines than car manufacturers do while assembling their vehicles – despite having a market that is
28 per cent smaller”.
Bada Pharasi, CEO of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association of South Africa, says the industry is aware of the problem. “This is why the biopharma industry is investing in research and development around greener products, as well as more sustainable production and distribution practices to enable us to deliver medical innovation in ways that protect and support the environment.” Pharasi adds that member companies are working on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions across their operations and value chains, invest in renewable electricity and energy-efficiency measures, recycle, and cut water use.
He says that a significant number of the largest innovative companies
(all members of the International Federation of
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations) have set net-zero or carbon-neutrality targets. Many more have committed to ambitious short-term greenhouse gas emissions-reduction efforts. “Whatever measures are applied globally would also be adopted locally. Association members that do any level of manufacturing in South Africa apply the good manufacturing practices in application globally by their principals.” Companies are furthermore subject to extended producer responsibility regulations around waste management.
A CASE IN POINT
Cipla South Africa’s drive towards sustainability includes goals like becoming carbon- and water-neutral, with zero waste to landfill, by 2025. Paul Miller, CEO of Cipla South Africa, says that by 2030 the company aims to be carbon- and water-positive.
Achieving these goals starts with steps such as including more renewable sources in the energy mix, explains Miller. Currently, these account for 15 per cent, and plans are to finish 2025 with 34 per cent of energy generated by wind and solar sources at Cipla’s 45 sites across Africa and Europe. The company has also reviewed its fuel sources and, having replaced 5 per cent of these with biofuels, has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 41 per cent.
Other actions include attempts to reduce and, where possible, eliminate the use of hazardous solvents, and to incorporate the waste generated during the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the final product.
These processes will be under the spotlight at Cipla’s new facility under construction at Durban’s Dube Trade Port. The company is focusing on features that may minimise waste while limiting energy consumption. For example, a continuous water recycling loop means that “no drop of water entering the premises will leave it, because it will be harvested,” Miller explains. This has significant implications for minimising pollution and effluent run-off, which can impact biodiversity. “If our water doesn’t leave our system, it can’t affect the external ecosystem,” Miller says. Incipient bulking, which affects how APIs are blended, plays a role here too.
Finally, the company is swapping batch manufacturing, which requires enormous volumes of water to wash machinery between batches, for continuous production, which also reduces carbon footprint by 80 per cent, thanks to reduced energy consumption.
“THE BIOPHARMA INDUSTRY IS INVESTING IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AROUND GREENER PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS MORE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PRACTICES TO ENABLE US TO DELIVER MEDICAL INNOVATION IN WAYS THAT PROTECT AND SUPPORT THE ENVIRONMENT.” – BADA PHARASI