The drug delivery device industry faces a number of significant challenges with regard to sustainability, from reliance on single-use plastics to resource-intensive manufacturing processes. In the waste hierarchy, where waste prevention is most favourable and disposal the last resort, the industry has some way to go before ‘prevention’ – i.e., using fewer resources to make a product, and enabling reuse – is the default. Yet this route has significant benefits for the environment. 

For instance, according to an Owen Mumford analysis, one single-use disposable auto-injector has a carbon footprint of approximately 400 g CO₂e. It is possible, by modifying a number of product characteristics, to potentially reduce this footprint to only 19 g CO₂e through a reusable and remanufacturable device. This solution also aligns with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s guidance for the sector, which advocates for lean service delivery to minimise wasteful activities and the prioritisation of low-carbon treatments and technologies. 

At the same time, pharmaceutical companies – close partners with device manufacturers – face mounting pressure to prioritise sustainability, from regulatory bodies, consumers and investors alike. And they are committing to ambitious targets in this area: nineteen of the twenty biggest pharmaceutical companies have committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ten to carbon neutrality and eight to net zero emissions between 2025 and 2050.