che-achema1_june-2024 - 52

ACHEMA DAILY PRE-SHOW | TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2024
52
Lab/Pharma/Packaging
Li fe Cycle Assessment from Syntegon Provides Valuable Insights for Siegfr ied
Tracking Down Emissions
Siegfried fills a variety of liquid pharmaceuticals on Syntegon equipment
Syntegon has recently developed its own calculation model based on so-called
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). The method allows the company to evaluate
energy consumption and emissions during the entire life cycle of its
machines.
Companies in the pharmaceutical
industry are increasingly
aiming for resource efficiency
and ecological processes.
Boehringer Ingelheim, for
example, plans to achieve CO2
neutrality by 2030 (Scope 1 and
2). Bayer AG is aiming for zero
net greenhouse gas emissions
by 2050. There are numerous
ways to achieve those goals:
electricity and compressed air
from ecological sources, alternative
packaging materials, or
modified production processes
can pave the way to more
sustainable production in the
long term.
Data is the Key
However, if technological and
process-related adjustments
are to succeed, they need another
important resource that
is far less obvious than the systems
and products themselves
- data. Quantified consumption
and emissions allow
manufacturers to draw conclusions
and make adjustments
at machine or process level. Besides
sufficient time, comprehensive
data collection
requires a calculation methodology
that is appropriate for
existing systems, such as a filling
line for liquid pharmaceuticals.
The approach needs to accurately
record electricity and
media consumption like water
and compressed air, and to allocate
the values to different
operating modes and machines.
This way, it can provide
a holistic overview of consumption
at different times.
Siegfried, a pharmaceutical
contract manufacturer based in
Switzerland and with production
sites in Germany, has
tackled this task together with
a well-versed expert who also
supplies the filling systems.
Syntegon has recently developed
its own calculation model
based on so-called Life Cycle
Assessments (LCA). The method
allows the company to evaluate
energy consumption and
emissions during the entire life
cycle of its machines. Following
extensive in-house calculations
based on empirical values, the
experts in processing and packaging
technology have carried
out an LCA using data from the
contract manufacturer.
Practical Implementation
" On the one hand, Siegfried
wanted to determine emission
savings associated with green
energy, " Steffen Carbon, responsible
for sustainable product
design at Syntegon, recalls.
" On the other hand, the company
was eager to understand
the effects of modified production
processes on the overall
emissions at their German site.
After all, the filling line accounts
for around a tenth of
the site's energy consumption.
This gave us the opportunity to
carry out LCA calculations with
specific production data for the
first time. "
Siegfried operates several Syntegon
filling lines for various
liquid pharmaceuticals, including
filling, capping, and crimping
machines for glass containers,
as well as sterilizing
and cleaning equipment. Process
systems to produce water
for injection (WFI) are also part
of Siegfried's set-up. The company
switched from conventional
electricity from a local
supplier to certified electricity
from renewable energy sources,
such as wind and water, to ensure
the ecological operation of
all components. Moreover, a
nearby waste incineration plant
provides steam for WFI production.
An efficient compressed
air system further supplies machine
parts and cleaning systems
with compressed air.
Insightful Findings
" The company didn't know
exactly how these adjustments
would affect its emissions. Our
analysis provided transparency,
especially as all the machines
on site are from the vast Syntegon
portfolio. If needed, we
were able to draw on existing
data from our respective production
sites to complete the
analysis, " says Steffen Carbon.
Syntegon's experts and Siegfried's
production specialists
compiled the data over the
course of a week. " We defined
beforehand what information
we needed, such as data on
electricity and steam consumption,
compressed air, and WFI.
We correlated this with material
values from a specialized
database to determine the actual
emissions of each category. "
Up
to 80 Percent
The results of the comprehensive
calculations: by using
green electricity, self-generated
steam, and compressed
air, Siegfried reduces its CO2
emissions by up to 80%. WFI
generation contributes around
50%, while the use of electricity
for all machines accounts
for a third. The rest relates to
compressed air generation.
" This is a remarkable result
that proves two things: major
savings can be achieved with
appropriate resource adjustments.
However, we can also
see that a large share of the
emissions is still generated during
the utilization phase when
using green energy, which in
this case still causes two thirds
of the emissions over the life
cycle. This phase is therefore
the most important area for
further reductions. "
Campaign Filling
A second calculation, which focused
on the effects of modified
production processes on
CO₂ emissions, demonstrated
the potential of such a change.
Instead of running several individual
batches, the CDMO
relies on so-called campaign
filling, i. e. several batches in
combination. This reduces
format changes, such as adjustments
to mechanical compoCO2-Footprint
for a campaign with four batches
CO2-savings with campaign filling
Source: Syntegon
Source: Syntegon
Source: Syntegon
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