ISPE Announces Sustainability Community of Practice

Governments around the world have made international commitments to reduce their environmental impact and protect nature. Policy frameworks have been established to facilitate and drive progress against agreed-upon targets. These directly impact end-to-end activities for the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, and medical device sectors, including research and development, manufacturing, commercial activities, and extended supply chains and logistics.

The supplier base and contract development and manufacturing landscape are also heavily impacted, as both significantly affect the product footprint on environmental, social, and governance.

ISPE recently launched a Community of Practice (CoP) on Sustainability. The new Sustainability CoP will provide ISPE members with:

• A community focused on the topic of sustainability in the pharmaceutical industry and its end-to-end value chains
• A forum to help members problem solve and engage in networking, through ISPE Engage sites and other communication methods
• The ability to innovate and create breakthrough ideas, knowledge, and practices to improve the practice of sustainability
• ISPE content on sustainability topics and best practices
• A way for regulators and legislative bodies to provide guidance, harmonization, and industry comment, when applicable
• Alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and Sustainable Market initiative to bring together stakeholders

The Sustainability CoP will be holistic, focusing on sustainability and responsibility in all facets across the product life cycle. These include:

• Energy and carbon reduction
• Waste and packaging reduction
• Green chemistry
• Process efficiency
• Research and development efficiency
• Water usage and impacts
• Product stewardship, including sustainability and relevant legislative aspects
• Impacts on organization and culture
• Considerations for future states enabled by digital transformation and Pharma 4.0™ concepts that impact sustainability goals

“Environmental sustainability is vital for protecting the well-being of both people and the planet, ensuring a healthier future for generations to come. We believe that as a nonprofit and given the scope and caliber of its robust network of 22,000 members, which includes pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers, ISPE is uniquely positioned to facilitate one unified and aligned approach to help fulfill our industrywide commitments to sustainability. With the addition of this new CoP, we plan to identify and bring forth best practices, define maturity levels, liaise with regulatory and law-making bodies, and communicate valuable lessons learned and case studies with relevant stakeholders—all while maintaining focus on quality and safety.”

Ester Barle, PhD

Head of Product Sustainability and Stewardship

Takeda

Members of the Sustainability CoP will aim to bring forward solutions for the industry’s unique challenges related to sustainability, gathering insights and engaging in data as well as knowledge-sharing with the pharmaceutical community. The new CoP offers members the opportunity to collaborate with existing CoPs in the ISPE community to deliver solutions around sustainability, leveraging existing resources such as the ISPE Baseline Guide Volume 6: Biomanufacturing Facilities (3rd Edition) and exploring pertinent topics like the influence on the reduction of energy consumption in facility design.

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