Sustainability in Pharma: Practical Improvements Across Manufacturing and Laboratories

From water conservation and energy-efficient equipment to reduced laboratory waste, practical technology choices can support more sustainable pharmaceutical operations.

Sustainability is an increasingly important consideration for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies. Alongside maintaining product quality, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency, organisations are looking for practical ways to reduce resource consumption and environmental impact.

While major infrastructure projects can contribute to sustainability objectives, opportunities for improvement can also be found in everyday processes, equipment selection and maintenance practices.

From vessel calibration and temperature control to laboratory consumables, relatively targeted changes can help organisations reduce waste, conserve resources and maintain reliable performance.

Reducing Water Consumption in Manufacturing and Laboratories

Water is an essential resource in pharmaceutical operations, but some established processes can consume significant quantities unnecessarily.

Water-free vessel calibration

Conventional vessel calibration can involve filling tanks with large volumes of water to verify weighing system performance. This requires water supply and disposal and can also interrupt production activities.

Mason Technology offers an alternative through its Force Transfer Method of Vessel Calibration.

Instead of using water as a test load, the method applies precise, traceable forces to calibrate suitable vessel weighing systems.

By eliminating the need for water during the calibration procedure, this approach can help pharmaceutical manufacturers reduce resource consumption, minimise associated waste and limit operational disruption while maintaining documented calibration results.

Learn more about water-free vessel calibration.

Recirculating laboratory cooling

Another opportunity lies in laboratory cooling.

In laboratories using once-through tap water to cool condensers, rotary evaporators and other equipment, significant quantities of water can be discharged after a single use.

Recirculating chillers offer a more resource-efficient alternative, continuously cooling and reusing fluid within a closed-loop system.

Temperature control solutions from manufacturers such as Huber can help laboratories reduce water consumption while maintaining consistent cooling conditions for sensitive applications.

Discover the benefits of recirculating laboratory cooling.

Improving Energy Efficiency and Reducing Refrigerant Impact

Temperature control is essential across pharmaceutical research, process development and manufacturing. From maintaining precise conditions in jacketed reactors to stability testing and sample storage, many applications depend on equipment operating continuously or over extended periods.

Selecting technologies designed for efficient operation can help reduce energy consumption while maintaining the temperature stability and performance required in regulated environments.

Increasingly, equipment selection also involves considering the environmental impact of the refrigerants used.

Moving towards natural refrigerants

In June 2026, temperature control specialist Huber announced that it had completed the transition of its temperature control portfolio to natural refrigerants, discontinuing sales of equipment using synthetic refrigerants, apart from a specific exception for semiconductor applications.

The development reflects a wider shift towards lower-impact refrigeration technologies and reduced reliance on synthetic fluorinated refrigerants, which face increasing restrictions under the EU F-Gas Regulation.

Huber now uses natural refrigerants such as propane (R290) and carbon dioxide (R744), selected according to the temperature range, cooling capacity and technical requirements of individual applications.

Its Green Line range incorporates CO₂ refrigerant, which has zero ozone depletion potential and a global warming potential of just 1.

Alongside refrigerant selection, Huber focuses on efficient refrigeration cycles, intelligent temperature control and durable system design. Its Unistat process circulators, used in pharmaceutical process development and production, incorporate technologies designed to improve heating and cooling performance while supporting efficient operation.

For pharmaceutical organisations investing in new temperature control equipment, these developments offer an opportunity to consider both energy consumption and refrigerant environmental impact as part of equipment specification and long-term operating costs.

Learn more about Huber’s sustainable temperature control technologies.

Energy-efficient laboratory equipment

Beyond process temperature control, opportunities also exist to improve energy efficiency in routine laboratory operations.

Memmert’s Peltier-cooled climate chambers, including the HPPeco range, offer energy-efficient temperature and humidity control for applications such as pharmaceutical stability testing.

Modern ultra-low-temperature freezers also incorporate advances in insulation and refrigeration technology designed to reduce energy consumption while maintaining critical storage conditions.

Actual energy savings depend on equipment selection, application requirements and operating conditions. Comparing energy use, refrigerant characteristics and lifecycle costs alongside technical performance can help organisations make more informed purchasing decisions.

Explore energy-efficient laboratory equipment.

Reducing Laboratory Consumable and Material Waste

Waste reduction is another important consideration, particularly in laboratories using substantial quantities of single-use consumables, purification cartridges and analytical solvents.

Reusable water purification cartridges

Avidity Science’s Solo S ultrapure water purification system provides an example of how equipment design can reduce consumable waste.

Its reusable cartridge system, supported by the AvRecycle programme, allows used cartridges to be returned for processing and reuse rather than disposed of after a single cycle.

This approach can reduce the plastic waste associated with maintaining laboratory water purification systems while continuing to provide the water quality required for appropriate analytical applications.

Lower-impact consumables and workflows

Manufacturers such as Eppendorf also offer laboratory consumables incorporating alternative materials, including BioBased products, providing laboratories with additional options when reviewing purchasing decisions.

Other opportunities may exist in analytical workflows, where suitable technologies and methods can reduce solvent use or improve solvent recovery.

For pharmaceutical laboratories, changes to consumables or analytical methods must be evaluated against application suitability, analytical performance and relevant quality requirements.

The objective is to reduce unnecessary waste without introducing additional risks or compromising established processes.

Explore low-waste laboratory practices.

Supporting Sustainable Performance Throughout the Equipment Lifecycle

The environmental performance of scientific equipment is not determined solely at the point of purchase.

How equipment is operated, monitored and maintained can also influence resource consumption and overall reliability.

Preventative maintenance, calibration and performance verification help organisations maintain equipment within required specifications and identify problems before they lead to failures, repeated testing or avoidable downtime.

Environmental monitoring and temperature mapping can also provide valuable information about the performance of controlled environments, helping facilities identify areas that may require further investigation or adjustment.

Mason Technology supports pharmaceutical customers through calibration, qualification, validation, maintenance and environmental monitoring solutions.

By combining appropriate technology with effective ongoing support, organisations can make more informed decisions about equipment performance, maintenance and replacement.

Making Sustainability Improvements Measurable

For pharmaceutical manufacturers, sustainability improvements must be considered alongside quality, operational requirements and regulatory obligations.

The most effective initiatives are those that can demonstrate a practical improvement in resource efficiency without compromising performance.

Useful measures may include water consumption, energy use, consumable waste, equipment operating costs and maintenance requirements.

Rather than focusing exclusively on major capital projects, pharmaceutical organisations can also review routine processes and existing equipment to identify opportunities for incremental improvement.

Supporting More Sustainable Pharmaceutical Operations

Mason Technology works with pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical organisations across Ireland, providing scientific instrumentation, industrial measurement technologies and specialist technical services.

Through partnerships with leading international manufacturers and our local technical expertise, we help customers identify technologies and working methods that support operational efficiency, reliable performance and more responsible resource use.

Looking to improve resource efficiency across your pharmaceutical operations?

Contact Mason Technology to discuss the technologies and services available to support your requirements.