Image Credit: Tower Cold Chain
In an effort to meet pharmaceutical cold chain requirements while limiting waste simultaneously, Tower Cold Chain has officially launched a sustainability hub for its customers.1
The new landing page serves as one-stop-shop to access four areas: a sustainability toolkit, a knowledge hub, information on Tower’s performance, and ethics and compliance declarations. Tower wants to reconsider how it works with its stakeholders across the supply chain by accomplishing better sustainability.
“At the heart of our mission is a commitment to sustainability, not just within our operations but also in how we empower customers big and small. We understand that meeting ambitious sustainability goals is crucial for the future, and we’re here to support you every step of the way,” said Marloes Wanrooij, regional operations manager, EMEA, and sustainability lead at Tower Cold Chain. “Accordingly, we didn’t want our sustainability communications to be just a standard set of reporting documents, but a practical resource offering data-based insight and intelligence for our customers.”
For instance, the toolkit provides information regarding various services that Tower offers, which can help to support customers’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements. One offering is its Carbon Footprint Calculator—by predicting the emissions related to pharma transport, it is able to measure the environmental impact of customers’ cold chain processes.
On the company’s website, there is also other information that’s intended to boost the customer experience of utilizing its temperature-controlled containers, such as Tower’s engineering consultancy, fast-track qualifications, and the Tower Control Center portal.
“We welcome people to browse the sustainability hub to find the answers to their questions, both about Tower’s efforts to become more sustainable, but, crucially, how we are continuing to support the global pharmaceutical supply chain to do the same,” added Marloes.
In a feature written for Pharma Commerce,2 Richard Peck, Tower’s global strategic advisor, noted that emissions are very much a reality—therefore, it’s imperative that industry act with a great sense of urgency to combat these issues.
“Taking into account the revenue generated by the pharma industry, as was done in a 2019 study, it can be deduced that the industry generates about 48.55 tons of CO2 equivalent per $1 million,” he wrote. “This is 55% higher that the emission intensity of the automotive industry. Thus, many may not be surprised to see the recent regulatory action from governments and international institutions, be it in the form of carbon tax, tighter policies, or shipping restrictions … Achieving real and measurable change needs to be practical for pharma companies. A huge number of complex steps are required to ensure life-saving products arrive to patients safely and securely. With dozens of organizations involved, each of these partners and processes must be carefully considered to find the optimum balance between operational efficiency, product protection, and sustainability.”
References
1. Tower Launches Customer Sustainability Hub. Tower Cold Chain. October 3, 2024. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.towercoldchain.com/tower-launches-customer-sustainability-hub/
2. Realistic Net-Zero Goals for Pharma. Pharmaceutical Commerce. June 1, 2023. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/realistic-net-zero-goals-for-pharma