Today’s pharmaceutical landscape positions 'sustainability' as an operational imperative. Manufacturers face increasing regulatory, societal, and stakeholder pressure to demonstrate environmental responsibility. In essence, their Environmental Cost of Ownership (ECO) has become a critical performance metric - one that reflects not only the cost of purchasing and operating equipment but also the broader environmental impacts it generates throughout its lifecycle.
At 3P innovation, sustainability is embedded in both our Environmental Policy and our engineering strategy. We're ISO 14001 certified, and we commit to continuous improvement, environmental impact reduction, and responsible lifecycle design in line with our broader business objectives.
Understanding the Environmental Cost of Ownership (ECO)
ECO represents the true environmental footprint of a manufacturing process or piece of equipment. It accounts for the resources consumed, emissions generated, and waste produced across the product lifecycle - from raw material input through manufacturing, operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning.
Traditional aseptic fill-finish processes often carry a heavy environmental load, primarily due to the intense preparation and cleaning required to maintain sterility. These include sterilising containers, maintaining high-grade cleanroom environments, and managing waste streams from washing cycles, PPE, and disposal. While these steps are crucial for patient safety, they come with substantial energy and resource costs.
We recognise our responsibility to go beyond compliance. As outlined in our environmental policy, we actively seek to reduce these impacts through smart design, sustainable engineering, and close collaboration with customers to drive down ECO, without compromising on performance.
How does roboFIL™ reduce your ECO
We've engineered roboFIL™, our robotic fill-finish platform, not only for flexibility, sterility, and scalability but also with a laser focus on environmental performance
- RTU vial integration: Eliminates the need for in-line vial washing and sterilisation. This removes water and steam from the process, significantly cutting energy and waste.
- Grade B cleanroom avoidance: roboFIL™ operates in Grade C or D environments, removing the need for large-scale Grade B suites and the associated HVAC and air-handling energy burden.
- Compact footprint and smaller isolator chambers: Less internal air volume means reduced VPHP use and lower HVAC energy demand.
- Automation of critical tasks: Reduces manual intervention, which decreases PPE usage and cleanroom traffic, cutting down on operational waste and energy.
- Air recirculation technologies: Cleanroom air is recycled through integrated loops, dramatically lowering energy requirements for air treatment.
- Catalytic H₂O₂ conversion: Ensures that decontaminated air is safely converted and returned to the cleanroom, minimising environmental release and HVAC load.
Each of these design features directly supports our environmental policy commitments.
Sustainable innovation
RoboFIL™ isn’t an isolated innovation. It reflects the systematic approach outlined in our environmental policy, which covers all aspects of our operations. Our teams regularly review environmental objectives, work closely with customers, suppliers and regulators to integrate best practices across our business.
We are a verified SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) company, and we’ve seen continuous improvement in our climate disclosure scores. Our ECO-conscious product development helps our clients meet their own environmental targets while aligning with evolving ESG expectations.
Reducing the Environmental Cost of Ownership is not simply about regulatory compliance, it’s about futureproofing operations, building lifecycle value, and earning the trust of regulators, patients, and partners. At 3P innovation, we're enabling the next generation of pharmaceutical manufacturing through smart, sustainable design.
