Pharmapack 2024 – Stevanato Group talks sustainable solutions

This January Pharmapack Europe is once again bringing the epicentre of all things pharmaceutical packaging to Paris, France. This year, to enhance our sustainability offering at the event, we are partnering with Stevanato Group. In the following interview Stevanato Group explains why sustainability is so important to them. 

Stevanato Group recognises sustainability as a core responsibility for their place in the pharmaceutical industry, can you please outline some of your main aims and goals as part of upholding this responsibility? 

We strive to support our stakeholders while making a positive impact for the benefit of all. To this end, we regularly assess Environmental, Social, and Governance impacts because we believe the ability to respond to such trends and risks may impact the long-term success of our company and society. 

Our goal is to pursue a sustainable business innovation journey while asserting our position as an interdependent and responsible member of the community in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. For our Group, sustainability is one of the primary means to tackle such complexity and we are committed to embedding it in our strategic plan, policies, and practices.

In 2022 you published a sustainability report, can you outline the main findings from your report? 

We have been able to tackle climate change through decarbonisation, developing our first eco-designed products, more sustainable processes, social responsibility through safety and diversity, and upholding strong governance structures. 

We are measuring our performance by the three pillars of Environmental Social Governance (ESG):

About the Environment – to improve Waste Management practices, we have begun exploring new opportunities, including leveraging our corporate Sustainability/Circular Economy innovation programme. This led to a decrease in waste production in 2022 of about 12% compared with the previous year. In addition, 82% more waste was recovered – this reflects our “Waste to Value” practices while giving new purpose to materials such as glass and plastic scraps that were previously diverted to disposal.

Social – at Stevanato Group we prioritise the health and safety of employees. Our approach to Health & Safety embeds World-Class Operations Management (WCOM) practices that meet the requirements and demands of our global customers.
We delivered 30,000 hours of dedicated training last year and more than 24 initiatives for the promotion of health at a global level. Thanks to all these measures, in 2022, we have been able to reduce by approximately 32% the rate of recordable injuries.

Governance – respect for human rights while upholding regulations is a fundamental pillar of our business. Starting from the Board of Directors, there is an oversight of sustainability strategies and practices.
Stevanato Group established its Code of Ethics and a set of policies to provide clear guidelines and criteria for ethical business conduct to all stakeholders – including, for example, respect for Human Rights and the Environment.

In 2022, no cases of incidents of corruption, human rights violations, or significant complaints about non-compliance with laws or regulations were reported in Stevanato Group.

Thanks to these improvements, we’ve been awarded a Bronze Medal by Ecovadis, one of the world’s largest and most trusted providers of business sustainability ratings.
This recognition means that Stevanato Group performed amongst the top 25% of companies in the “Manufacture of glass and glass products industry”, and amongst the top 34% of total companies rated by the platform on these themes: 
•    Environment
•    Labour & Human Rights
•    Ethics
•    Sustainable Procurement.

Please could you give some examples of products and technology that you develop that are leading the way in terms of sustainability? 

Important innovations have been developed to support sustainability and, thanks to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC+) certification, rigorous compliance with the mass balance approach is ensured, and trust among the different players in the value chain is maintained. 

In drug containment solutions, Stevanato Group has introduced new sustainability practices as part of its corporate Circular Economy innovation programme. In particular, projects were launched to identify alternative materials and processes that provide more sustainable techniques while maintaining overall performance. 
For example, Stevanato Group has launched a high-end Ready-To-Use solution platform with an initial focus on vials, based on the Group’s market-leading EZ-fill® technology: EZ-fill Smart™. The platform offers the market a more environmentally friendly sterilisation method, compared with traditional Ethylene Oxide (EtO) sterilisation, that can result in improved safety. 

Moreover, Stevanato Group launched a sustainable version of secondary packaging for syringes focusing on biopolymers and recycled plastic as well as packaging and process improvements to reduce related emissions and other sustainable measures.

In our Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) portfolio, we have Vertiva™, our On-Body Delivery System. This is a drug delivery device composed of a reusable controller and a disposable pod with a pre-loaded cartridge. The reusable part extends the lifespan of the product to multiple uses and reduces product waste for a more sustainable device solution.

Why is it so important for events such as Pharmapack 2024 to support sustainability and providing a platform for this conversation, and how can we do more? 

We are proud to partner with Pharmapack Europe on an important matter such as sustainability.
Pharmapack is a prestigious showcase that allows us to reconnect with our customers and prospects, as well as expanding our network. 

We are proud to present our latest developments, meeting other pharma professionals face-to-face, whilst discovering emerging trends in the industry – and this is valid for both business and sustainability topics.  

Pharmapack is a key annual event where you can make the most out of industry sustainability innovations. It represents the perfect arena to show our sustainability innovation success as well as to raise awareness of this topic.

We can always learn from best practices and build up new collaborations, acting with transparency and with sustainable business practices. 

Altogether, we can bring significant benefits to the pharmaceutical packaging sector – creating a more sustainable future and a world that future generations will be proud of.