Sustainable Operations Series: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Health Care Products

Overview

Session Description

Purchasing plays a critical role in sustainable health care and contributes a significant amount to the carbon footprint of the sector. In a recent report, the NHS Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) calculated that 61% of the carbon footprint was related to procurement. Of the total NHS England GHG emissions over 21% were attributable to pharmaceuticals and 11% to medical devices. With increasing population and the growth of the healthcare sector, business as usual is not an option: the management and reduction of GHG emissions is essential in the face of global climate change targets. The sector requires a strategy to prioritize the biggest contributors to its aggregate emissions, and which embeds GHG emission reductions in product development. To meet this demand, internationally recognized tools and methods are required by the sector to facilitate cost effective management of GHG emissions.

This session will also highlight how to measure a product’s environmental footprint through the example of the first medical product certified by the
Carbon Trust. Carbon footprinting allows manufacturers to seek continuous improvement and transparency of product performance, help hospitals reach greenhouse gas reduction goals, and complements the environmental attributes captured by the Practice Greenhealth Standardized Questions for Medical Products. This medical product (ALBUMIN) has a 28% lower carbon footprint than the comparable product in a glass container for the entire product life cycle, including production of raw materials, product manufacturing, transportation, and end-of-life.

Learning Objectives

Identify the likely hotspots of GHG impact in healthcare and product life cycles.
Understand how a carbon footprint relates to other product environmental attributes, such as waste reduction.
Demonstrate how the potential environmental impact of a product, from raw material extraction to end-of-life, is quantified.
Introduce the guidance and tools available to support GHG reduction strategies.

Presenters

Tom Penny, Senior Consultant, Environmental Resources Management (ERM)

Tom Penny is a Senior Consultant in ERM's Product Sustainability Services practice. Tom is an expert in life cycle assessment and supply chain GHG management and was a primary author of the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard: Sector Guidance for Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Products. He has worked on a range of sustainability issues with pharmaceutical companies and private and public healthcare providers. He continues to work with the UK NHS Sustainable Development Unit to support the reduction of the UK public health service carbon footprint. More broadly, Tom has applied his expertise in in the healthcare, electronics, manufacturing, packaging, mining, oil & gas, retail and telecommunications sectors. He is a member of the American ACLCA and Australian ALCAS professional societies.

Margaret Enos, Manager, Product Stewardship, Baxter Healthcare Corporation

Margaret Enos is Manager of Product Stewardship for global Environment, Health & Safety at Baxter. She helps Baxter manage and improve the sustainability performance of new products in development and existing products, and conducts life cycle assessment projects to quantify the environmental footprint of products and therapies. Prior to joining Baxter in 2012, Margaret helped companies manage sustainability performance at the product and enterprise level through life cycle assessment studies and tools and implementation of sustainability information systems as a sustainability consultant at PE INTERNATIONAL. She holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management from UC Santa Barbara.

Adam Baum, Senior Marketing Manager, Baxter Healthcare Corporation

Adam Baum is a Senior Marketing Manager with twelve years of diverse experience in healthcare marketing, strategy and new product development. He has spent five years at Baxter within the renal and biotherapeutics divisions and currently leads global albumin initiatives. Prior to Baxter he developed and managed long term care facilities in Illinois. Adam holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of management.