sustainability Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Covestro publishes climate neutrality targets for scope 3 emissions

NEWS RELEASE: Covestro publishes climate neutrality targets for scope 3 emissions Reduction of 10 million metric tons of greenhouse gases produced in upstream and downstream supply chains (scope 3) by 2035, climate neutrality for scope 3 by 2050 Climate strategy for reducing greenhouse gases complete Concrete plan for implementation to reduce emissions, transformation along the entire supply chain required

PITTSBURGH, February 29, 2024 — Covestro has published its climate neutrality targets for scope 3 emissions, completing its climate strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a short-term goal, the company plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 10 million metric tons by 2035. This corresponds to a drop in emissions of 30 percent compared to the base year 2021, with some growth-related emissions through 2035 included in the calculation. In the long-term, Covestro plans to be climate-neutral in terms of scope 3 emissions by 2050.

Covestro previously publ…

Medtronic names first chief sustainability officer

New Medtronic Chief Sustainability Officer Raman Venkatesh brings experience in sustainability efforts to the medtech giant. [Image courtesy of Ken Washington on LinkedIn]A Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) + executive shared on social media that the company named a chief sustainability officer.

Raman Venkatesh will join the medtech giant as VP and CSO — a newly created role — starting on Feb. 19. Ken Washington, Medtronic SVP and chief technology officer, announced the appointment on LinkedIn.

In the role, Venkatesh holds responsibility for leading the development and execution of the company’s environmental sustainability strategy.

“I am excited to see Raman and his team drive Medtronic forward on our sustainability journey,” Washington posted. “I am confident that together we will shape and unlock new innovative solutions that serve our patients and our planet.

Venkatesh’s career history…

Pregis wins ISCC PLUS sustainability certification at two facilities

NEWS RELEASE: Pregis Achieves ISCC PLUS Certification in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Visalia, California Facilities

Repelletized resin [Image courtesy of Pregis]

CHICAGO — November 16, 2023 — Pregis®, a global leader in high-performance flexible packaging and protective packaging solutions, achieved International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certifications at its facilities in Hopkinsville, Ky., and Visalia, Calif. These certifications are a notable addition to the company’s growing list of ISCC PLUS certified locations in the Netherlands and North America.

The third-party certification verifies mass balance chain of custody and traceability from raw materials to finished products. Given this, Pregis can produce films classified as advanced recycled (circular, bio-circular and/or bio-based).

Ryan Wolcott, chief sustainability officer, explains the significance of this achievem…

Medical device reprocessing design tips from Cardinal Health’s Sustainable Technologies

Medical device reprocessing includes mechanical, chemical and/or electrical processes. [Photo courtesy of Cardinal Health Sustainable Technologies]

Medical device reprocessing is a key focus for Cardinal Health’s Sustainable Technologies business, which collects and cleans single-use devices for safe re-use under FDA standards.

Reprocessed devices keep medical waste out of landfills while offering significantly lower costs than brand-new products for hospitals and other healthcare customers, according to the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors.

Meg McClanahan, chair of the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors Board and global portfolio director for Cardinal Health’s Sustainable Technologies business, offered some advice for designing medical devices for reprocessing.

Previously: Cardinal Health expands single-use device reprocessing facility

What advice can Cardinal He…

Solenis-Diversey deal highlights trend for strategic, sustainability-focused acquisitions

Solenis, a specialty chemicals company serving water-intensive industries, wrapped up its $4.6 billion acquisition of Diversey Holdings, Ltd., a supplier of hygiene, infection prevention, and cleaning products to global pharmaceutical companies.

This acquisition comes amid a trend of smaller, more strategic M&A activity in the pharma sector during the second quarter of 2023. While the Solenis-Diversey deal bucks this trend in terms of deal size, it aligns with the strategic nature of recent acquisitions in the industry.

The merger creates a global firm specializing in integrated water and hygiene that operates in more than 130 countries with 71 sites and 15,000 employees.

Before the acquisition, Solenis already served a diverse number of industrial sectors, including pulp, paper, oil and gas, chemical processing, mining, biorefining, power and municipal markets.

Solenis-Diversey deal could be harbinger of more chemicals sector M&A deals

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Raumedic plans lower-emission energy center project

Raumedic expects to complete construction of its new energy center by the end of 2024. [Illustration courtesy of Raumedic]

Raumedic is working on an energy plant project at its Helmbrechts, Germany headquarters to generate heat and power from renewable sources.

The medical device component developer and manufacturer expects to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 85% through the collaboration with energy network operator E.ON.

It’s the latest sustainability move in the medtech supply chain, as medical device OEMs, contract manufacturers and suppliers work to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Related: Boston Scientific’s Kathryn Unger on how to stand up an ESG program

A new wood chip heating plant will supply the entire Raumedic campus with heat, replacing natural gas combustion with biomass. Raumedic says the biomass will save around 1,800 tons of …

Why a smart approach to AI-driven drug discovery prioritizes sustainability

[sdecoret/Adobe Stock]

The fact that the biopharmaceutical industry has a large carbon footprint is well established. A 2022 study from My Green Lab confirmed that biotech and pharma are still among the globe’s top polluters. The research highlights that a mere 4% of the largest publicly-traded biotech and pharmaceutical firms have climate commitments in line with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to cap warming at 1.5°C by 2030.

Yet climate change remains the most pressing threat to human health, potentially causing 250,000 additional deaths per year, as the World Economic Forum has noted.

AI as a doubled-edged sword in sustainability

For biopharma, AI-driven drug discovery could serve as a double-edged sword when it comes to sustainability. On the one hand, these technologies promise to enable new discoveries and optimized processes that could slash emissions.

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How Medtronic’s conflict minerals program investigates red flag suppliers

Gold is one of the most commonly used conflict minerals. [Illustration by Yuliia via Adobe Stock]

Materials like gold, tin and tungsten can save lives when used in medical devices, but global manufacturers like Medtronic must take steps to avoid inadvertently funding violence and human rights abuses with these “conflict minerals.”

Medtronic is the largest medical device company in the world, so its conflict minerals program is a good example of how medtech manufacturers look deep into their supply chain to comply with federal disclosure requirements.

“At Medtronic, we’re committed to maintaining good citizenship as a company, which includes obtaining the minerals necessary to manufacture our products only from socially responsible sources,” the company said in a statement to Medical Design & Outsourcing.

What are conflict minerals?

Conflict minerals include cassiterite,…

Boston Scientific’s Kathryn Unger on how to stand up an ESG program

Kathryn Unger is VP of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) at Boston Scientific. [Photo courtesy of Boston Scientific]

Kathryn Unger, VP of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) at Boston Scientific, joined the medical device developer and manufacturer in September 2022 to form the ESG team.

“The patient is and must be at the center of everything we do,” she said DeviceTalks Boston in May. “We’re constantly trying to ensure that we have the absolute best patient outcome, from a risk-to-the-patient perspective, period. That has to be our guiding principle, right? However, that’s not an excuse to not improve the design of our medical devices. … There has to be product stewardship that starts before you get to the manufacturing piece. And that design needs to be circular and consider the full life cycle.”

Unger had advice for companies that want to launc…

CRB installs new senior director of sustainability

The life sciences and food and beverage consulting firm CRB has named Mike Dieterich as its senior director of sustainability. Dieterich has more than 17 years of experience working in energy and sustainability. He’s led sustainability initiatives at companies such as AstraZeneca where he served as director, U.S. sustainability from January 2018 to April 2023.

With his appointment as the sustainability lead at CRB, Dieterich’s primary responsibility is to build the company’s energy and sustainability consulting services group, focusing on front-end energy and sustainability needs for biopharma and food and beverage manufacturing clients.

Pharma getting serious about sustainability

Pharma’s environmental impact is under the microscope, and companies ranging from AbbVie to Amgen have set ambitious goals to slash carbon emissions, waste and water consumption in the coming years.

A recent Cornell University study suggests the industry…

BD explores plastic blood tube recycling

Blood tube recycling could give new life to high-quality materials that are currently incinerated after use. [Photo via Adobe Stock]

Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) will explore blood tube recycling in a sustainability pilot program.

BD’s partners include Odense University Hospital, the Health Innovation Centre of Southern Denmark, Danish Technological Institute, and GMAF Circular Medico/EcoFitt.

These plastic blood collection tubes are made from high-quality raw materials, but are incinerated with other biohazardous waste after use. The blood tube recycling pilot program will investigate the steps for recycling the tubes, including an evaluation of the recycled plastic’s quality and safety and hygiene precautions.

BD is the world’s largest manufacturer of evacuated blood collection tubes, BD Sustainable Medical Technology Institute Amit Limaye said.

“As part of…

Sustainable coating demand is changing medical device design and manufacturing

Coated needles [Photo courtesy of Surface Solutions Group]

‘Forever chemical’ replacements are on the way thanks to sustainable coating research and collaboration.

By George Osterhout, Surface Solutions Group

Fluoropolymers are getting a bad name.

For more than a decade, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) used to manufacture polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coatings for the medical device industry have been highly scrutinized by regulatory agencies including the EPA and the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR).

In 2010, the EPA recommended the elimination of PFOA in all PTFE coatings by 2015, including those used for medical devices. PTFE coatings are used for guidewires, mandrels, hypotubes, coil wires and needles. Since then, PTFE manufacturing companies have turned to short-chain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as an alternati…