CPHI Milan will bring pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers and sustainability leaders together to address practical challenges around decarbonisation, procurement, packaging and sustainable manufacturing.

The inaugural CPHI Sustainability Summit will take place at Fiera Milano on October 6–7 alongside CPHI Milan, bringing together more than 300 companies and organisations from across the pharmaceutical supply chain.

The two-day programme will focus on how pharmaceutical companies and their supply chain partners can move from sustainability commitments towards practical implementation, with sessions covering sustainable manufacturing, supply chain decarbonisation, packaging, green chemistry and sustainable procurement.

Sustainability across the pharmaceutical supply chain

The Summit builds on the CPHI Sustainability Collective, an industry initiative designed to bring pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, associations and sustainability organisations together to address common barriers to progress.

A key theme will be the role of collaboration across the pharmaceutical supply chain. The programme will examine challenges that cannot easily be addressed by individual companies, including how sustainability requirements can be incorporated into procurement and commercial decision-making.

Silvia Forroova, director of partnerships and sustainability at CPHI and founder of the CPHI Sustainability Collective, said: “The industry has reached a point where sustainability conversations need to translate into decisions and action. The challenges involved are interconnected, from procurement and manufacturing through to packaging and the wider supply chain, and no single organisation can solve them alone.”

The programme will include more than 20 sessions, working groups and interactive discussions designed to examine practical approaches to sustainability across pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chains.

Pharma decarbonisation and sustainable procurement

Sessions will look at some of the challenges involved in translating sustainability targets into operational changes.

The Sustainability Power Hour will bring together organisations including BioPhorum, Alliance to Zero, SHC and PSCI to discuss industry collaborations focused on sustainability.

A fireside session, The Advocate & The Enabler: A Fireside Reality Check on Sustainability, will examine the challenges involved in moving from corporate sustainability objectives to operational change.

The programme will also focus on sustainable procurement through two interactive sessions: Hack the Friction: Buyer Solutions Lab and Supplier Sprint: From Challenge to Offer. These will examine barriers that can prevent sustainability requirements from translating into purchasing decisions.

Another workshop, Green Extra Cost: How Can We Absorb Them Along the Value Chain?, will address how additional costs associated with more sustainable solutions could be managed across pharmaceutical supply chains.

Turning sustainability commitments into action

For pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers, the discussions reflect a wider challenge around balancing environmental targets with operational and commercial requirements.

Forroova said: “What makes this Summit important is the involvement of partners and experts from across that ecosystem. We want to create an environment where people can openly address the barriers they are facing, learn from what others are already doing and work together on solutions that are both environmentally meaningful and commercially realistic.”

The Summit is sponsored by SK Pharmteco, Alperia, AstraZeneca, Sharp, ERM, Pharma LCA Consortium, AllocNow and gesco, with contributors representing areas including manufacturing, packaging, supply chain, technology, procurement and sustainability.

The CPHI Sustainability Summit will take place alongside CPHI Milan, with registration providing access to the wider event and its pharmaceutical development and manufacturing programme.