Written by:
Chief Operating Officer, BioPharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca
Chief Operating Officer, Oncology,
AstraZeneca
Head of Global Quality,
AstraZeneca
Director Safety, Health, Environment Lead for
Global Quality at AstraZeneca
At AstraZeneca, we are constantly challenging ourselves to pioneer innovative approaches and processes which minimise our impact on the world’s natural resources. We are integrating sustainability through our entire supply chain, from the lab bench to the patient. Across our labs we are creating a culture of sustainability and changing mindsets to ensure we design, develop and deliver new medicines in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.
Scientific innovation and environmental responsibility go hand in hand
The healthcare sector is responsible for approximately 5% of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with laboratories found to consume 5-10 times more energy than typical office spaces.1 As a company whose mission is to transform health outcomes, we have a responsibility to address the climate crisis directly. By making long-term and lasting changes, we are lessening the environmental impact of our lab operations, and contributing to our Ambition Zero Carbon strategy to decarbonise our operations and value chain to become net zero by 2045 at the latest.
Achieving our sustainability targets requires a change in mindset
Through our Green Labs programme, we are reducing the environmental impact of our lab operations by engaging scientists in environmental sustainability across the organisation – from lab-based colleagues in R&D and Pharmaceutical Technology & Development to our operational colleagues across quality control in our manufacturing and supply network. With more than 4,000 colleagues optimising ways of working, we are changing our culture. For example, we are taking action on:
- Energy Reduction: Engaging in the International Freezer Challenge and Switch Off Optimisation Program (SWOOP) to reduce our power consumption and carbon footprint.
- Waste Management: Adopting eco-friendly waste disposal methods and promoting the recycling of lab materials such as plastics and gloves, reducing our waste output.
- Certification: In collaboration with My Green Lab, deploying certificates across our organisation to understand our sustainable performance within the lab space and identify opportunities to improve.
- Innovation in laboratory processes: To reduce raw materials and solvent usage.
What is My Green Lab?
My Green Lab is a non-profit environmental organisation with a mission to build a global culture of sustainability in science. The organisation is the world leader in developing internationally recognised sustainability standards for laboratories and laboratory products, bringing sustainability to the community responsible for the world’s life-changing medical and technical innovations. Laboratories are one of the most resource-intensive spaces in any industry, but they don’t have to be. By introducing both a new perspective and proven best practices within a carefully crafted framework, My Green Lab has inspired tens of thousands of scientists to make a positive change in their labs by reducing the environmental impact of their work.
Creating a culture of sustainability with My Green Lab
My Green Lab Certification: a commitment to sustainable science
Recognised by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign as a key measure of progress towards a zero-carbon future, the My Green Lab Certification was brought in through our R&D team and is considered the worldwide standard for laboratory sustainability. So far, we have achieved My Green Lab Certification in over 100 lab spaces across around the world, 41 of which are at the highest level that can be achieved – Green. We are the first organisation to achieve certification at this level at our manufacturing and supply sites across the Americas region, a first for any industry.
Additionally, our Cairo manufacturing site received the first Green level certification for a quality control lab out of any other organisation within the pharmaceutical sector. This reflects the global work undertaken by our scientists and quality professionals to improve energy, water and chemical use and reduce the amount of waste produced through initiatives including recycling lab plastics and gloves.
Earlier this year our Alexion Athlone (Ireland) facility installed heat pump technology in their finish fill building which is expected to reduce scope 1 emissions by 50% and avoid over 6,000MWh of natural gas annually, the equivalent natural gas usage of 550 households annually.*
Promoting best practices in laboratory cold storage management
In addition to My Green Lab Certification, for the past four years we participated in an international, annual competition designed to promote best practices in laboratory cold storage management. Our labs competed to save energy through activities such as freezer clean outs, maintenance, temperature set-backs from -80 to -70°C, and upgrades to more energy-efficient models.
In 2023, we saved 5299 kWh/day, the equivalent of the energy used to charge an estimated 278,844 mobile phones per day**. Based on these energy savings and proactive approaches to reducing the environmental impact of cold storage, we were awarded by My Green Lab and The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I 2 SL), The Small Size Lab Award for our R&D Biobank in Gothenburg, Sweden and the Freezer Challenge Top Organisation Award. In addition, this year we were awarded Lab Innovations ‘Smart Lab of the Year’ and ‘Sustainable Lab of the Year’.
Additionally, lab-based colleagues at our Gothenburg site upgraded our Biobank freezer park, safely decommissioning 37 old freezers and replacing them with 25 new and more energy efficient models, helping to avoid 1 tCO2e – the equivalence of charging 121,643 mobile phones - every week.**
Empowering scientists and operators to switch-off lab equipment
Since 2021, we have been implementing SWOOP, or the Switch-off Optimisation Program, across most of our labs. SWOOP is a grassroots initiative that identifies and categorises laboratory equipment to allow individual scientists to shut down equipment when appropriate, and without significantly impacting scientist workflows. By labelling equipment with either a green (safe to shut down after use), amber (check with a supervisor before shutting down) or red (do not shut down) sticker, our scientists are empowered to make small changes that reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint; a simple initiative that has delivered tangible energy reductions.
We are empowering our lab-based colleagues with sustainable research practices through behavioural changes. It’s about asking everyone in our labs to have a sustainability mindset in everything they do. Our accreditations are a testament to how quickly this programme can result in positive change to more sustainably manage energy, water, waste and chemicals across our laboratories.
Every change matters. Our ultimate goal is to achieve the highest level of certification provided by My Green Lab across all our sites and have lab-based colleagues around the world take part in activities that reduce our environmental impact and enable us to operate sustainably. Having seen first-hand the benefit of My Green Lab Certification, the Freezer Challenge, and SWOOP in helping us achieve our environmental sustainability goals, we are now a My Green Lab sponsor and are working together to support the future of sustainable science across our company, our partners, collaborators and beyond.
