According to a recent report that surveyed pharma and biopharma professionals, almost two-thirds stated that sustainability is their number one priority during the next 5 years.1
Understanding the industry wide need to reduce its carbon footprint, contract development and manufacturing organisations such as Lonza are investing in greener drug development, including more sustainable ingredient sourcing.
Wishing to explore these trends in greater detail, Dr Kevin Robinson (KSR) spoke to Sofia Sotiropoulou (SS), Senior Director of Sustainability and Climate Innovation at Lonza Capsules & Health Ingredients (CHI).
KSR: What steps is Lonza taking to reduce the environmental footprint of its capsule production, particularly regarding raw materials and manufacturing processes?
SS: Lonza CHI is dedicated to minimising the environmental footprint of its capsule production by implementing several key strategies. For a capsule to be produced, raw materials are first extracted from their sources, transported and processed into chemicals.
These chemicals are then further refined into capsules. This manufacturing process generates emissions at various stages. At Lonza CHI, we utilise the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a globally recognised framework, to measure, manage and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The energy used to produce capsules is categorised as Scope 1 and 2, whereas the emissions from upstream activities such as material extraction, transport and processing are classified as Scope 3.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions account for 30–50% of the final capsule's carbon footprint, whereas Scope 3 emissions can contribute between 50% and 70% of the total footprint.
We are committed to addressing emissions throughout our entire value chain, from supply chain activities to manufacturing processes. Our approach to reducing our operational footprint, including Scope 1 and 2 emissions, involves the following:
- transitioning to renewable electricity where available with solar panel installations and virtual power purchase agreements (PPAs)
- reducing resource usage, such as energy and water, and minimising packaging
- utilising high levels of automation in our manufacturing process to identify and mitigate losses, thereby fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Simultaneously, we are tackling our Scope 3 supply chain emissions with a dedicated Responsible Sourcing programme.
This aims to maintain and expand a sustainable supplier network to reduce emissions from raw material procurement. We prioritise working with suppliers who are already committed to sustainability.
Our Supplier Decarbonization programme, led by Lonza Sustainable Procurement, collaborates with our suppliers and provides the tools they need to decarbonise.
KSR: How does Lonza plan to evolve its product portfolio to offer even more sustainable capsules and what challenges are involved?
SS: Lonza CHI is committed to developing capsules that are not only effective for consumers but also environmentally friendly. More than 90% of our materials are biobased and we are constantly in touch with suppliers of these materials to pursue an ethical and sustainable supply chain.
Through our advanced sustainability and decarbonisation initiatives, we offer capsules with 30–40% lower carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions compared with non-decarbonised ones.
We strive for innovation in sustainability. For example, we incorporate ecodesign principles into our product innovation and we continuously work to lower the emissions of our products, which involves the careful selection of raw materials and transitioning to fully decarbonised energy sources.
We also acknowledge the specific needs of our nutrition segment, which demands products designed with sustainability and ethics at the forefront.
To address these needs, we are finding ways to promote circular economy practices and material traceability.
As we work towards these goals, we face various challenges, including data transparency and sharing, as well as openness and collaboration throughout the value chain with key stakeholders.
We acknowledge that sustainability is a collective goal and a journey; as such, we welcome opportunities for open exchange in key forums, such as CPHI and TFS, where we share best practices and invite customers to collaborate with us on the development path.
KSR: From sourcing ingredients to downstream solutions for capsules, can you share how Lonza ensures sustainability throughout the value chain?
SS: Lonza takes a comprehensive approach to sustainability; from sourcing raw materials to downstream capsule solutions, Lonza builds sustainability into its entire supply chain.
As part of our approach, our Center of Applied Sustainability aims to reduce our Division’s climate and carbon impact by working alongside our partners, suppliers and customers to achieve collective environmental goals.
This is part of our shared and broader Lonza ambition to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% by 2030.
For our upstream operations, we prioritise responsible sourcing by working with suppliers that meet strict environmental and ethical standards.
We evaluate the sustainability of our suppliers and work with them to measure emissions and decarbonise. In our downstream processes, we partner with customers by sharing tailored sustainability solutions to help them minimise the environmental impact of our capsules in their formulations.
This includes drafting reports on the carbon footprint of Lonza CHI’s products, designing capsule technologies with lower lifecycle emissions, creating a roadmap to help customers set and achieve sustainability goals and providing guidance on sustainable practices within their operations and supply chains.
By integrating these efforts, Lonza takes a holistic approach to sustainability that benefits both our customers and the environment.
KSR: How does Lonza measure and report on the sustainability performance of its health ingredients and capsule products?
SS: Lonza is always looking to minimise our environmental impact throughout the supply chain. We publish an annual ESG report that outlines our year-on-year progress.
This report is a testament to our commitment to transparency and accountability. In the 2024 report, our progress included achieving a silver medal in sustainable procurement in our EcoVadis assessment.
Additionally, Lonza Sustainable Procurement was awarded the “Sustainability for the Future Award” by Procurement Success Awards and the highly commended Reuters Sustainability Award in the category “Stakeholder Engagement,” an acknowledgement of our advanced management system for responsible sourcing.
We are also actively measuring our environmental progress through collaborations with global climate organisations such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
This partnership helps us to establish and validate sustainability goals, particularly those focused on reducing near-term GHG emissions.
As part of this effort, we aim to allocate 90% of our spending towards suppliers with sustainability scores and that 79% of our suppliers have their own science-based targets within the next 3 years. These objectives support our broader ambition of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Building upon these foundations and recognitions, Lonza CHI is making progress on other key milestones as part of our commitment to reduce our environmental impact.
For example, we recently achieved a significant milestone at all our European sites, where our facilities in Colmar (France) and Bornem (Belgium) have transitioned to use 100% renewable electricity.
KSR: What upcoming innovations or partnerships is Lonza exploring to advance sustainability in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical sectors?
SS: Although we can’t disclose any upcoming innovations or partnerships, we recently launched the Center of Applied Sustainability.2
This centre leads the development and execution of Lonza CHI’s sustainability strategy to lower our environmental impact and advance our focus areas of sustainable operations, planet-positive innovation and partnerships and services.
At the Center, we partner with customers to advance their decarbonisation journey by utilising state-of-the-art tools to measure and improve their environmental product impact.
We also collaborate on product development using ecodesign principles to build sustainable product propositions.
Lastly, we are working to help Lonza CHI reach the lowest achievable environmental footprint by developing energy efficiency, waste reduction and resource optimisation initiatives.
References
- Sustainability: A key differentiator as biopharma faces momentum challenges, global survey by Cytiva reports.
- Lonza CHI’s Center of Applied Sustainability.
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