Would you buy a product at a grocery store if it didn't have the nutrition label and ingredients listed? We expect that information and often consider it vital when choosing what to buy. Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data for pharma products are becoming the same way.
Ryan Walker, Director of Sustainability at Cytiva, highlights the importance of PCFs: "In the quest to decarbonize biopharma, accurate, product-level carbon data is not just a missing link - it’s the key to unlocking transformative climate action. By moving from estimates to evidence, we shift from reactive compliance to proactive innovation. Product Carbon Footprints are more than metrics; they are the new language of trust, transparency, and shared responsibility. At Cytiva, we’re not simply tracking emissions - we’re forging a path forward, hand-in-hand with our customers, to reimagine what sustainable science can achieve."
In today’s journey toward a low-carbon future, there’s a growing realization across industries: you can’t reduce what you don’t measure. While biopharma companies have made strong strides in understanding their direct emissions, a large piece of the puzzle lies buried in supply chains and product lifecycles. That’s where PCFs come into play — and why they’re quickly becoming one of the most critical tools for meaningful climate action.
By working transparently and closely with customers such as AstraZeneca, Cytiva is helping progress sustainability as a business imperative.
What is a Product Carbon Footprint — and why does it matter?
A Product Carbon Footprint measures the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product throughout its lifecycle — from raw material extraction, manufacturing, distribution, all the way to use and disposal. It’s a 360-degree view of a product’s true carbon impact.
Why does this matter? Because for many companies, especially in sectors like biotech, life sciences, and manufacturing, Scope 3 emissions — indirect emissions that occur outside a company’s own operations — make up the vast majority of their carbon footprint. Accurate carbon measurement is a necessity: Without precise data, companies are forced to rely on rough estimates, missing opportunities to pinpoint and target real reductions. According to Cytiva’s Biopharma Sustainability Review, only 17% of industry executives are able to accurately measure their Scope 3 emissions. We can’t manage what we can’t measure—and we can’t reduce what we don’t understand.
The need for, and critical importance of, PCF standards such as Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) cannot be overstated. As these standards continue to evolve, they play a pivotal role in ensuring consistency and efficient communication of PCF data. The journey of developing these standards is crucial for the industry, as it enables the seamless sharing of PCFs. However, sharing PCFs at scale is contingent upon the adoption of standardized methodologies and communication protocols. Without these, the potential for widespread collaboration and data exchange remains limited, underscoring the necessity for robust and universally accepted PCF standards.
The shift from estimates to evidence
Historically, organizations have relied on "spend-based" models to estimate Scope 3 emissions. But these models come with major limitations. Spend data can fluctuate with market conditions, or supplier changes, making it a moving target. More importantly, it doesn’t capture the actual environmental performance of a specific product. Yet this is still what the majority of our industry uses to calculate Scope 3 emissions.
Primary, product-specific carbon data changes the conversation. It offers accuracy, traceability, and the opportunity to engage suppliers and customers in a dialogue around true impact and opportunities for improvement across the value chain. Suppliers can be encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices, and customers are empowered to consider the environmental impacts of the products they use and take an active role in collaborating with suppliers to focus on carbon hot spots and validate greener solutions.
Transitioning from spend-based models to primary, product-specific carbon data transforms the conversation from vague estimates to precise measurements, enabling actionable insights and fostering collaboration for a sustainable future.
According to the Sustainability Review, we found that 68% of executives not only struggle to measure emissions accurately – but without that data, they can’t drive change. If we, as suppliers, can’t provide clear emissions data to collaborators, it makes it even harder for them to reduce their footprint.
Our thought was, why not go through this process together?
Collaboration in action: Unlocking sustainability through shared carbon data
At Cytiva, we believe the future of sustainability is collaborative. As suppliers, we have a responsibility to provide transparent, credible PCF data. Our customers have an opportunity to collaborate with suppliers in PCFs to provide more accurate ‘use’ and ‘end of life’ data as well as working with suppliers to validate alternatives, especially where there is no material difference to the product. Together, by sharing information openly, we can identify carbon hotspots, drive eco-design innovations, optimize manufacturing and logistics, and co-create lower-carbon solutions that benefit the entire value chain.
This isn’t just theory — it’s action. In our journey addressing Scope 3 emissions, Cytiva has been actively collaborating with customers to exchange carbon data at the product level. These collaborations show what’s possible when trust and transparency are prioritized: customers gain better tools to meet science-based targets, suppliers gain insights into how products are used and disposed of beyond our walls. We can redesign, reimagine, and reduce carbon at every stage of a product's life cycle, and both sides are better positioned to drive measurable carbon reductions.
With customers like AstraZeneca, we recognize a shared opportunity — and responsibility — to work together on carbon data transparency. Our shared project covers one drug production line at a Northeastern US AstraZeneca manufacturing site that incorporates the use of multiple Cytiva resins and cell culture media products. During this pilot project, Cytiva is providing PCFs for those products and AstraZeneca then integrates them into their own production-level carbon models. The project will be completed by the third quarter this year. Rather than simply supplying products, we are committed to supplying accurate, primary carbon data tied directly to our products. By doing so, we’re not just fulfilling a request — we’re helping to close critical gaps in Scope 3 emissions reporting and empowering better decision-making on both sides.
The patient impact: Why PCF matters beyond the lab
Sustainability isn’t just an operational issue — it’s increasingly a customer expectation. For companies in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, PCF data is poised to influence everything from procurement decisions to regulatory disclosures. It’s even expected to play a role in future drug labelling, giving patients greater visibility into the environmental impact of the therapies should they have the benefit of choice.
Imagine a future where drug labels not only list ingredients and dosage instructions but also provide detailed information about the environmental impact of the therapies. This is the promise of PCF data — empowering patients to make informed choices that align with their values and commitment to sustainability when they have a choice of therapies with a lower carbon footprint.
PCF is not a box-ticking exercise, it’s a strategic investment in innovation, resilience, and long-term success. The future belongs to those who can measure their impact and who have the courage to change it. We aim to lead through our actions, collaborating openly with our value chain to move from estimates to evidence — and from intention to action. When we collaborate, we don't just measure progress — we create it.