Sustainability must start in design
Pharmaceutical Technology argues that sustainable operational excellence needs to be built into early process design rather than added later, tying sustainability metrics to material use, energy, water and yield. The piece frames measurable resource intensity and waste reduction as elements that digital systems must capture to support cross‑functional operational decisions. (pharmtech.com)
Drugmakers can cut waste and energy use earlier and more cheaply by designing sustainability into a manufacturing process before the plant is built. (pharmtech.com) Pharmaceutical Technology published that argument on March 18, 2026, as companies shift from traditional batch production to continuous processing, process intensification, and greener analytical tools. The article said those choices can lower variability, waste, and energy consumption at the same time. (pharmtech.com) The basic math is simple: track how much material, water, and energy go in, then compare it with how much finished medicine comes out. In pharma, one common measure is Process Mass Intensity, or PMI, which counts the total mass of materials used to make a given mass of product. (greenchemsci.com) That pushes sustainability into the same category as yield and quality, which are already measured in development and manufacturing. The United States Food and Drug Administration says quality metrics are used to monitor the product and process lifecycle, giving manufacturers a template for treating environmental metrics as operating data rather than side projects. (fda.gov) The industry has a concrete reason to do this now: pharmaceutical manufacturing uses large amounts of energy, water, and raw materials, and it can generate hazardous waste. The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering wrote in a 2025 review that digitalization, automation, sensors, artificial intelligence, and digital twins are becoming central tools for improving both compliance and resource efficiency. (ispe.org) The design-stage decisions are often technical but familiar in effect. Pharmaceutical Technology pointed to continuous manufacturing and process intensification, which means making more product in less space and time, and to replacing some chromatography steps with optical spectroscopy to reduce solvent use, chemical waste, and energy demand. (pharmtech.com) Continuous manufacturing matters because it changes production from stop-and-start batches to a steady flow of material. A 2025 review in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics said that shift can improve efficiency, reduce waste, and enable real-time quality control. (sciencedirect.com) The pressure is also commercial, not just technical. Pharmaceutical Technology reported that procurement teams and contract development and manufacturing organization selections increasingly hinge on verifiable numbers such as PMI, Scope 1 to Scope 3 emissions, and recycling rates. (pharmtech.com) That creates a data problem inside companies. Ernst and Young said pharma manufacturers still struggle with siloed functions, and that digital operational excellence depends on real-time monitoring, cloud systems, process integration, and cross-functional collaboration across a project’s full lifecycle. (ey.com) The practical takeaway is narrow but consequential: if a company waits until commercial production to ask about water, solvent, waste, and energy, the expensive choices have already been locked in. The March 2026 Pharmaceutical Technology piece argues those numbers need to be designed, measured, and shared from the start. (pharmtech.com)
