Better packaging from Cytiva aims to remove seven tons of plastic from supply chain
- Warehouse in Uppsala, Sweden, leads the drive to optimize packaging in supply chain
- Project identifies 82% savings in plastics use throughout packaging from Uppsala to customers
- Cytiva plans to roll out initiative across five global distribution sites during 2022
Global life sciences leader Cytiva is starting to remove unnecessary plastic packaging in its supply chain, among other improvements to support its sustainability strategy. After a year-long study at five global warehouses and in collaboration with DHL Supply Chain, the companies are reducing filler needed in packaging, replacing plastic with more sustainable material where possible, saving unnecessary transport, and ultimately leaving customers with less waste to discard after delivery.
The first site to activate the initiative will be near Uppsala, Sweden, and expects to save seven tons of plastic each year. For comparison’s sake, that’s the estimated weight of one elephant.
Once Cytiva makes the improvements at all five key distribution sites (in the US, Singapore, Japan, and China), the company expects to save approximately 25 tons of plastic per year, as well as reducing its CO2 footprint by streamlining shipments to customers.
Traditionally, warehouses have used plastic to fill voids in packaging. It’s used in shrink wrap, mailers, and the like. In Sweden, Cytiva has worked hand-in-hand with DHL Supply Chain to replace that material with more sustainable materials, such as kraft filler paper instead of plastic bubble wrap, and paper-based tape and labels, instead of plastic tape and labels. Once lessons are applied across the distribution network, Cytiva intends to save plastic across its 16 manufacturing sites sometime in 2023.
Emmanuel Abate, Vice President, Genomics and Cellular Research and Head of Sustainability, Cytiva, says: “We have a sharp focus on issues that will support our customers’ and our own sustainability targets. Reducing the packaging size and amount of plastics we send to customers from our warehouses helps reduce the climate impact for each of us. We couldn’t have done this without working with the right experts at DHL Supply Chain.”
Katleen Verbiest, Program Lead of Global Packaging Solutions, DHL Supply Chain, says: "Our mutual focus was primarily on optimizing Cytiva’s packaging solutions. Besides using more environmentally friendly filler and tape, we have also optimized individual shipments and reduced unnecessary transport. We look forward to our continued collaboration, and we are ready to identify additional opportunities to further reduce waste and improve the overall sustainability of our supply chains.”
Rethinking packaging is an important part of ‘Designing in Sustainability’, Cytiva’s plan to make a positive impact on people, our planet, and for our company. Replacing plastics is an important part of achieving two of our 2025 targets:
- 50% secondary packaging is to be reusable or widely acceptable for recycling;
- 50% of our plastic packaging is to be made from recycled content.
Read more about our plan in the 2021 Sustainability Report, to be published in May. Please join our live discussion on May 12 at 11 AM EDT:
https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6920354496992706560/.
About Cytiva
Cytiva is a global life sciences leader that works with academic and translational researchers, developers and manufacturers of biotherapeutics, cell and gene therapies, and new technologies such as mRNA, to enable the delivery of transformative medicines. Cytiva is a trusted expert with nearly 10 000 associates in more than 40 countries dedicated to customers’ speed, flexibility, capacity and efficiency in drug discovery, research, and manufacturing.
Media Contact:
Colleen Connolly
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