Sartorius, one of the main international partners in life sciences research and in the biopharmaceutical industry, is the first company in its sector to sign the European Plastics Pact. The objective of this public-private coalition is to improve the use and recycling of plastics and thus reduce the use of new plastics. Through cross-border cooperation at European level, the signatories to this pact aim to develop new techniques and approaches, share knowledge, harmonize guidelines and standards and reduce current obstacles. The European Plastics Pact was presented on Friday Brussels, Belgium, in the presence of ministers from several EU countries, participating companies and Frans Timmermans, Vice-President of the European Commission, among other participants.
“Single-use plastic products for biopharmaceutical research and production generally have a better ecological footprint than comparable reusable products. Nevertheless, we see a potential to reduce the use of natural resources in this area. Materials and material flows designed for recycling will play a key role in this context. Given the sophisticated functionality and product safety, this is certainly a complex subject in the biopharmaceutical industry, “said Sartorius President and CEO, Joachim Kreuzburg. “The European Plastics Pact as an international cooperation initiative is part of our proactive approach to sustainability.”
According to the European Plastics Pact, global use of plastics has increased twenty-fold over the past 50 years and continues to grow. Even if waste from single-use biopharmaceutical technologies represents only about 0.01% of the annual volume of plastic waste generated, the question of responsible use of plastics is increasingly posed in the biopharmaceutical industry, account given the steady growth of this market. The use of plastics often offers not only economic advantages but also considerable ecological advantages, especially since less water and energy are consumed than necessary for cleaning reusable equipment. In particular in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, single-use plastic products also offer vital benefits for patient safety.
To align single-use technologies beneficial to the biopharmaceutical industry with environmental aspects, Sartorius is developing a strategy for plastics which is oriented towards the four ambitious objectives of the European Plastics Pact:
Reuse and recyclability
The plastic packaging will be designed to be reusable as much as possible and in any case recyclable. The design of functional single-use plastic products will focus as much as possible on recyclability.
Responsible use of plastics
Virgin plastic materials will be reduced.
Collection, sorting and recycling
The recycling rate will be increased by collection and sorting.
Use of recycled plastics
Recycled plastics will be used for packaging and products whenever possible and appropriate.
You will find more details on the objectives and the list of signatories to the European Plastics Pact here: https://europeanplasticspact.org/
A profile of Sartorius
The Sartorius Group is one of the main international partners in biopharmaceutical research and industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group’s Laboratory Products and Services Division focuses on the needs of research and quality control laboratories of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions division, with its broad product portfolio focused on single-use solutions, assists customers in manufacturing biotech drugs and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group experiences double-digit annual growth on average and regularly expands its portfolio through acquisitions of complementary technologies. In fiscal 2019, the company generated sales of around 1.83 billion euros. At the end of 2019, more than 9,000 people were employed in the Group’s approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the world.
Contact
Timo Lindemann
Corporate communications
+49 (0) 551-308-4724
[email protected]
sartorius.com
Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn.
SOURCE SARTORIUS CORPORATE ADMINISTRATION GMBH
Related links
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