34 CHEMICALS KNOWLEDGE HUB Issue 2 / October 2025 SUSTAINABILITY From declarations to data The pharmaceutical sector’s environmental credibility now rests on data rather than declarations. Stakeholders are demanding evidence: which companies are putting recyclable blisters into recovery streams? Which plants have achieved zeroliquid discharge? Which emissions reductions have been independently verified? Describing the trade-offs in different parts of the life cycle David Croft, Global Sustainability Director at Reckitt commented: “It’s not a full-blown life cycle analysis, it’s a proxy, and it gives us a real sense of the footprint for the total life cycle of the product”.9 The challenge now is to move beyond proxies to audited, comparable reporting. Sector leaders are beginning to embed ESG into core strategy and supply-chain planning, while slower movers face exclusion from procurement, divestment by investors and reputational decline. Greenwashing once bought goodwill. Today it is a liability, and the winners will be those able to turn pledges into measurable, independently verified outcomes. References 1. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/ climate-energy/big-pharma-pulls-togethershrink-healthcares-outsized-carbonfootprint-2024-02-14/ 2. https://d2wrwj382xgrci.cloudfront.net/Uploads/ k/t/b/whitepaperthefutureofpharmablister packagingfinal_393856.pdf 3. https://www.ft.com/content/88d0142c-a6034a34-a56f-fa719e710148 4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ abs/pii/S0959652618336084 5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/ abs/pii/S0378378220307027 6. https://www.lupin.com/pharma-needs-a-dose-ofsustainability/ 7. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/ reusable-packaging-could-cut-emissions-plasticsby-up-69-study-2023-11-22/ 8. https://www.globenewswire.com/newsrelease/2025/07/08/3111482/0/en/ Sustainable-Pharmaceutical-Packaging-MarketTrends-to-Watch-in-2025-2026-CAGR-15Growth-Driven-by-Eco-Innovation.html 9. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/ climate-energy/big-pharma-pulls-togethershrink-healthcares-outsized-carbonfootprint-2024-02-14/ WILL CHU Editorial team CHEMICALS KNOWLEDGE HUB
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