Ben Sharples, LogiPharma event director, explains taking sustainability from a compliance checkbox to a strategic imperative.
LogiPharma
Ben Sharples
In 2019, a study found that the pharmaceutical sector had a 55% higher emissions intensity than the automotive industry. One of the possible reasons cited for this was a discrepancy in adoption of digital tools and AI, with automotive using emerging technologies to minimise waste and maximise efficiencies where pharma was falling behind. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way in the last seven years, not only in how sustainability is addressed in a practical capacity but in the way it is viewed by the pharmaceutical community at large.
According to the Carbon Impact Report 2025, operational efficiencies are improving across biotech and pharma, with the largest companies making steady reductions, cutting Scopes 1-2 emissions by approximately 10% and Scope 3 by around 5%. In fact, since 2020, spend on environmental programs among major pharmaceutical companies has jumped by 300%, with a total of $5.2 billion invested annually.
The understanding of and commitment to sustainable practices, including a reduction on critical resource use, is undoubtedly far more prevalent in the industry than it was just a few years ago. But that doesn’t mean the road ahead is completely clear. Scope 3 supply chain emissions remain the biggest challenge, accounting for 80-90% of the sector’s emissions. As yet, the silver bullet for solving this has yet to appear.
With LogiPharma being a focal point for the pharmaceutical community to share insight, we see first-hand how much of a hot topic sustainability remains across all aspects of the industry. For logistics and supply chain professionals in particular, it remains a significant challenge, but, in some senses, also represents a particular type of opportunity for brands willing to innovate. As such, sustainability is represented in a number of ways across all three days of LogiPharma 2026, including – but certainly not limited to – the following areas.
Sustainability and circular supply
Sustainability has become far more than a compliance obligation; it is increasingly used as a driver for strategic transformation.
The potential savings, both financially and from an emissions perspective, in reuse and recycling are enormous, and reverse logistics is a crucial part of facilitating that circularity.
Arguably centre to the conversation around circularity and reverse logistics is the question of how expired, damaged, returned and recalled products can be handled most efficiently, and how this could influence the overall environmental impact of the pharmaceutical industry.
With strict national and international regulations governing the handling of expired product, effective downstream return for the safe disposal of medication and recycling of packaging is highly complex. Added to this, regional regulations around recyclability, for example the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility policy, bring a further level of complexity.
Furthermore, there is the role of reusable packaging, and how it can help to create sustainable cold chains. The reusable fleet currently operated by Cold Chain Technologies, for example, estimates its reusable products have saved 55 million lbs of material from landfill to date. But how and when these reusable solutions are deployed, whether they should be leased or owned, and how best to facilitate the return of temperature controlled reusable packaging, remains a source of interest and debate within the industry.
Measurement & Visibility
In order to deliver change of any magnitude within the pharmaceutical sector or indeed any other, measurement and visibility are crucial. When it comes to Scope 3 and understanding the emissions associated with different elements of the supply chain, how measurement is managed and what is done with that data can vary widely between businesses.
Part of the issue is the global nature of pharma supply networks, crossing multiple jurisdictions and utilising numerous suppliers along the way. This makes overall visibility of consumption difficult to achieve, especially if each supplier within a particular network offers a different level or form of visibility.
As a result, tools to assess, monitor, and mitigate supplier and operational risks, including ESG, compliance, and Scope 3 emissions tracking, are in high demand. But can these tools make an impact without network restructure? And what are the potential opportunities or risks associated with AI powered technology as applied to the most sensitive aspects of the pharma industry? What’s more, does the energy required for AI actually negate its potential impact on sustainability targets?
From a visibility point of view, delegates will have access to a roundtable dedicated to the subject of Scope 3 tracking, in which participants will discuss how the quantification of emissions can cut carbon and accelerate sustainability gains.
Logipharma sustainability
As representatives of the pharma industry, and co-ordinators of a global meeting point for stakeholders across the sector, we have a responsibility to uphold the commitment to sustainability which we know is reflected by our delegates.
In terms of offsetting the impact of the show, we’ve partnered with One Tree Planted, a non-profit dedicated to global reforestation. For each registration to LogiPharma, we automatically donate £1 to One Tree Planted on behalf of the attendee.
Beyond that, sustainability is baked into how we organise and manage the exhibition. Our host city this year, Vienna, is internationally recognised as the capital of environmental protection, while the venue itself was Austria’s first ‘green’ conference centre.
During the event itself, we are paperless where possible and utilise sustainable items such as reusable lanyards and badge holders, recyclable signage and reusable décor. Collaboration is vitally important to how we manage the sustainability of LogiPharma, and we work closely with local suppliers to reduce the volume of materials shipped, and to support the local economy.
For supply chain leaders, logistics experts, and pharma innovators the question of how to improve the sustainability of the industry, and how the sector can reduce emissions and move towards the Paris Agreement related climate impact target of 1.5°C remains a hotly contested subject.
What we know for certain is that collaboration, sharing knowledge, and increased transparency are doubtless levers for positive change. For LogiPharma 2026, our hope is that by fostering debate which challenges existing mindsets and providing meeting spaces dedicated to the topic of improved sustainability, we can help engender the conversations which will ultimately result in building the intelligent, sustainable, and patient-first systems of the future.