The presenter was Ester Lovsin Barle, Global Head, Product Sustainability and Stewardship, Takeda Pharmaceuticals. There was also an 8 person panel to support questions and discussions afterwards. 

There were 36 Participants and this was a rework of a presentation given to an international conference in Madrid. Thus it should capable of being open to all with permission. 

The presentation was strategic and very focussed on pharmaceuticals but could be an allegory for other industries with some work. There was reference to the pressure on environmental health being an increasing threat to human health and how effort should be made to align design and operation with the UN SDGs. 

There needed to be a focus on product throughout lifecycle and goal setting against commitments. The presentation talked of making specific SDG definitions for the pharmaceutical industry and Sustainability by Design. Lifecycle Assessment Methodologies should be used to quantify environmental impacts across the entire lifecycle of the product /system to identify hotspots and the rigor of the assessment should match the business purpose or need. 

It was important to identify data gaps and hotspots and then work towards eliminating hotspots. It was important not to use ‘regrettable’ substitutions. Substitutions that generate challenge elsewhere. 

There was encouragement to take the analysis down to unit operations level and look at carbon, water and solid wastes. Key areas to pursue were: 

• Minimise environmental impact from using eco design 
• Reducing GHG emissions 
• Engaging with suppliers 

This analysis needed to be rolled out across 7 phases of lifecycle with collaboration across the whole lifecycle essential 

The question and answer session covered a number of areas including: 

• Alignment to and balancing cost and availability 
• International Collaboration for agreeing shared standards 
• The difficulty of obtaining and the reliability of information to support an LCA 
• Difficulties in retaining people to maintain the impetus in this area 
• Tools are very new and there was a need to focus work in specific areas to minimise the challenge and time to obtain a solution

Watch the webinar