Integrating Sustainability into the Pharma Value Chain
As the industry pivots toward eco-design and green procurement, the whole value chain must align to bridge the gap between environmental targets and manufacturing reality.
Sustainability has become a paramount consideration for global industries seeking to find a balance between meeting the needs of the current population without compromising future generations. For the bio/pharma industry, which is one of the highest producers of carbon emissions (1), there is an increasing urgency to improve sustainable practices.
Drivers for Embedded Environmental Targets
According to a 2024 market review performed by Cytiva (2), the majority (nearly two-thirds) of pharma and biopharma professionals that participated in the survey ranked sustainability as the top priority for the next five years, reveals Sofia Sotiropoulou, Senior Director of Sustainability and Climate Innovation at Lonza Capsugel. “This shift is driven by a convergence of business imperatives, ranging from financial and regulatory disclosures, compliance, and public environmental commitments such as net zero targets,” she says.
“Pharmaceutical companies are focused on adopting emission reduction targets, with many committing to these goals through the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi),” Sotiropoulou continues. The SBTi is a corporate climate action organization that helps to guide companies in setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets (3), aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, she adds.
“The coming of age of increasingly eco-conscious Gen Z and Millennial consumers is shifting the market towards brands and products that make safety, transparency, and ethical sourcing, a core tenet of their proposition,” Sotiropoulou remarks. “These eco-conscious buyers demand products with clear environmental benefits, transparent sustainability performance, and recognized certifications.”
All these factors are driving greater collaboration throughout the value chain to advance sustainability and efficiency, Sotiropoulou comments. By committing to reducing carbon emissions and improving sustainability, companies can enhance their reputation and competitive position within the industry while also ensuring long-term trust, she notes.
Tackling Sustainability Early On
While a significant amount of focus for improved sustainability has fallen on the commercial manufacturing side of drug production, there is a need to consider the environmental impact of earlier stages of development as well. “In the earliest stages of development, decisions around process design, materials, and resource intensity can significantly influence downstream emissions, waste, and resilience across the supply chain,” Sotiropoulou asserts.
“Industry-wide, there is a growing focus on resource efficiency, guided by frameworks such as circularity, water conservation, and the transition to renewable energy sources. Waste reduction is another important lever, with companies rethinking processes to minimize packaging and materials and prioritizing recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable alternatives,” Sotiropoulou says. “These efforts increasingly require partnership across the value chain and external collaboration.”
From the very outset of a development project, drug developers and their partners are now seeking to embed lifecycle and eco-design principles thanks to sustainability innovation, Sotiropoulou specifies. “Eco-designed products are manufactured using less energy, preferably with renewable electricity, and with ingredients and materials sourced from a responsible and transparent supply chain,” she highlights. “Capsules, as oral delivery forms, are inherently bio-based — a key differentiator from injectables — and can help pharma manufacturers transition to lower carbon products.”
Reinforcing the environmental benefits of capsules, Sotiropoulou highlights a study, performed in partnership with a third-party consultancy, that measured the impact of Lonza Capsugel’s hard empty capsules portfolio. “The study benchmarked Lonza Capsugel's sustainability and decarbonization initiatives compared to the market, which found our hard gelatin capsules portfolio showed a 30–40% reduced CO2e footprint compared to non-decarbonized players,” she reveals.
Solving Solvent Waste
A persistent environmental concern within the bio/pharma industry, however, is that of solvent waste. “Solvent waste remains a significant environmental challenge in drug manufacturing. One approach to tackle this issue is through the development of new technologies that reduce or potentially eliminate the use of these products in development,” Sotiropoulou explains.
For capsules, Lonza Capsugel has introduced new technologies to reduce the need for traditional solvents, Sotiropoulou reveals. For example, the company has developed multi-layer capsule designs that can now bypass the need for traditional enteric coatings, which often require heavy solvent use, she notes.
Furthermore, the shift toward plant-based polymers — such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or pullulan — is providing a more sustainable trajectory for both nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical formulations, Sotiropoulou adds.
A Shared Responsibility
“Sustainability is a shared responsibility across the entire value chain,” specifies Sotiropoulou. Collaborative efforts, such as those performed by Lonza Capsugel’s Center of Applied Sustainability (4), between partners, suppliers, and customers can help to achieve collective environmental goals that are in line with modern manufacturing techniques, she adds.
“‘Green procurement’ or responsible sourcing is becoming increasingly central to collaboration between CDMOs and innovators, fundamentally reshaping how partnerships are formed and managed across the pharmaceutical supply chain,” Sotiropoulou continues. Additionally, to source responsibly, companies also need to manage risk across the supply chain, which requires collaboration with both upstream and downstream suppliers, she notes.
“We see this collaboration in practice through coalitions and initiatives, such as Together for Sustainability, Sustainable Palm Oil Forum, Sustainable Cocoa Forum, and The Responsible Supply Chain Initiative,” Sotiropoulou says. “Such coalitions help streamline collaboration based on shared sustainability maturity.”
For Lonza Capsugel, the responsible sourcing program is built on three pillars comprising: supplier risk management (addressing business continuity risk); supplier decarbonization (identifying and reducing GHG emissions); and supplier sustainability (identifying and mitigating broader sustainability risks), Sotiropoulou asserts. Through setting specific SBTi approved targets for Scope 3 emissions from suppliers and prioritising spend with suppliers with a sustainability risk assessment, it is possible to ensure the supply chain is of low environmental risk and has a high sustainability maturity, she explains.
“Ultimately, the adoption of global sustainability metrics and green procurement strategies signals a more energized pharmaceutical and biotech industry — one that prioritizes partnerships aligned with sustainability values, responds directly to customer expectations, and proactively demonstrates the impact of sustainability initiatives,” Sotiropoulou asserts.
Shaping the Future of Sustainability
“Some of the most significant systemic changes shaping the future of sustainability in biopharma will be the shift toward greater data transparency, automation, and open collaboration across the value chain,” Sotiropoulou says. “While advanced technologies, such as renewable energy, automation, and eco-design, are critical, the ability to automate the measurement and reporting of product carbon footprints is emerging as a key enabler.”
Investments into automation systems for sustainability data will enable companies to “better contextualize and communicate the value of their operational strategies,” Sotiropoulou summarizes. “This approach makes it easier to demonstrate and differentiate the impact of sustainable practices compared to competitors who do not make similar commitments and to address the need for credible, rigorous data.”
References
McElhone, D. Driving Sustainability in the Pharmaceutical Industry. CPI Blog Post, March 24, 2025.
Cytiva. 2024 Global Biopharma Sustainability Review. Market Report, Cytiva, September 2024.
Science Based Targets. About the SBTi. Sciencebasedtargets.org (accessed April 28, 2026).
Lonza Capsugel. Lonza CHI’s Center of Applied Sustainability. Knowledge Center, capsugel.com, Mar 6, 2025.
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