By Nadja Lourenço – Head of Sustainability and Governance at Envirotainer
Sustainability is playing a key role in influencing how the pharmaceutical industry approaches its day-to-day operations. With the 2030 deadline for achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals approaching and many organisations setting science-based targets to hold themselves accountable, the industry finds itself at a critical point. Pharmaceutical companies are under increasing pressure from governments, regulators, and investors to accelerate their environmental strategies and invest in long-term, sustainable solutions.
In the pharmaceutical cold chain, air transport ensures the safe and efficient movement of temperature-sensitive medicines and vaccines around the world. However, it is also a major source of emissions. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is emerging as a key enabler of greener, more responsible air freight. With Scope 3 emissions accounting for more than 70 percent of carbon footprint, adopting lower-carbon alternatives is no longer optional – it’s essential.
Crucially, true progress will depend on strong collaboration between pharmaceutical manufacturers, logistics providers, airlines and fuel providers, to strengthen adoption and build a more resilient, low-emission cold chain for the future.
Rising demand for greener logistics
Pharmaceutical companies are investing in environmental programs to transform operations, reduce waste, and introduce innovative new technologies. It’s clear that the pharma industry is under increasing pressure from regulators, investors and healthcare providers to decarbonise its supply chains. While much of the early focus has been on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, the majority of a pharmaceutical company’s carbon footprint lies in Scope 3 emissions.
Air freight and sustainability
The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly recognising the importance of integrating sustainable practices within air freight. While shipping by air is necessary for the rapid and safe, temperature-controlled delivery of life-saving medicines, it is also a significant contributor to supply chain emissions and carries an environmental cost.
For logistics providers, it also creates a complex challenge: How can you meet patient demand and maintain medication safety, while reducing environmental footprint?
This is where SAF comes in. Currently, it stands out as one of the most immediate and scalable options to cut emissions. Ultimately, by replacing jet fuel with SAF, the industry can make huge progress towards lower-carbon supply chains, without compromising transport speed and reliability for life-saving medicines.
In Europe, the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative sees the blended integration of SAF into aviation fuel supplied at EU airports. Starting in 2025, a minimum of 2% SAF will be required, increasing to 6% by 2030 and 70% by 2050. This is designed to encourage market demand and improve availability for SAF across the region. Additionally, in the United States, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge is a government-backed roadmap aiming to scale SAF production to 3 billion gallons per year by 2030 and 35 billion by 2050.
These global policies collectively contribute to growing SAF demand and set important, worldwide examples for logistic providers and pharmaceutical cold chains. These joint efforts are becoming essential for the pharmaceutical industry to build resilient, lower-emission supply chains that can meet the growing environmental demands.
Why industry-wide collaboration for SAF is essential
SAF reduces CO2 emissions by up to 80% when compared with jet fuel, making it one of the most immediate and effective options for lowering environmental impact. For the pharmaceutical industry where air freight is critical for the safe and rapid delivery of temperature-controlled medicines, reducing emissions in flights is a growing priority. Any sustainability measures must be implemented without compromising product integrity or patient safety. Active temperature-controlled containers, such as Envirotainer’s RelEye® and E-Tech , play a crucial role in ensuring these medicines reliably maintain specific temperature conditions throughout their entire journey to patient while reducing the waste associated with single-use solutions.
The effectiveness of SAF adoption relies on widespread and coordinated collaboration across the entire supply chain. SAF presents as the most effective way to drive down emissions and accelerate the adoption of sustainable fuel alternatives. By working together, companies can use SAF to improve efficiency and scale as needed to support greener logistics.
A clear example of collaboration is Envirotainer’s partnership with Air France KLM Martinair Cargo, which saw Envirotainer join forces with a leader in sustainability within the aviation industry to support pharmaceutical customers to reduce the climate impact of cold chain shipments through SAF-powered flights. This initiative is a step towards making lower-carbon air freight options available for temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products.
It’s clear that no single stakeholder can solve this challenge alone, it takes cross-sector collaboration to drive scalable, meaningful change.
The road ahead
As the pharma industry continues to set increasingly ambitious climate goals, there will also be the growing need to address current air freight emissions. As sustainability demands increase, wide-spread adoption of SAF will become an indispensable method.
Envirotainer understands this imperative. Our sustainability vision goes beyond our own footprint, which is why we’ve set ambitious Scope 3 emissions targets, aligned with Science-Based Targets (SBT), and are actively exploring and promoting the adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This reflects our proactive commitment to minimising the environmental impact of pharmaceutical cold chain logistics.
With global SAF adoption still in its early stages, industry participation is key to increasing its use and demonstrating a commitment to long-term sustainability goals. For significant progress to occur, all stakeholders must adopt a proactive mindset, looking beyond their direct operations.
With this approach, not only will the industry reap the benefits for its supply chains but will also demonstrate a clear commitment to meeting the ongoing, global sustainability challenges.
