About Net Zero Pilot

In 2022, CMAC was awarded funding of £2.5million for the UKRPIF Net Zero Medicines Manufacturing Research Pilot by Research England and the Scottish Funding Council.

With procurement and impact monitoring over the period 2022 - 2027, this capital award supports CMAC’s 2021-26 Strategy and our commitment to developing sustainable processes and technologies for future medicines manufacturing.

Ambitions

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Reduce emissions from travel using the latest immersive digital tools to enhance collaboration

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Reduce energy consumption through energy efficient infrastructure and equipment

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Reduce chemical waste through smart, intelligent, small scale experimental platforms

Achieving our ambitions

Investing in infrastucture and equipment

A timeline infographic with milestones from 2022 to beyond 2027. 2022 is marked by a funding award and procurement initiation. 2023 shows procurement completion and asset receipt. 2024 to 2027 notes asset installation and monitoring. Beyond 2027 marks the completion of award and process embedding.

Monitoring our energy usage

Recognising our efforts, CMAC has been awarded bronze certification for both our main lab and our X-Ray lab at the LEAF award ceremony.

Certificate of Bronze Award from the University of Strathclyde Glasgow for the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), awarded to CMAC Main Lab for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC) in 2023.

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Certificate of Bronze Award for the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) awarded to X-ray Lab by the University of Strathclyde Glasgow, 2023, in recognition of sustainability practices in continuous manufacturing and advanced crystallization (CMAC).

Why is this important?

Annually the pharmaceutical industry contributes significantly towards global CO2 emissions, while laboratory-based research generates around 2% to the world's plastic pollution.

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Illustration of a recycling symbol made of plastic bottles with the text "5.5 million tonnes of plastic" on a black background.

The Net Zero Pilot is researching ways to help the pharma industry move towards net zero operations by focussing on 8 key areas:

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Smart Experimentation

We aim to reduce our carbon emissions from ongoing medicines manufacturing research functions by introducing various experiments that enable smaller-scale, more efficient, sensitive, automated, accurate, and reproducible testing. This approach will decrease energy consumption, chemical and solvent usage, and the associated waste.

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Energy Monitoring

We have installed lab-dedicated energy monitors that connect to a web app, displaying real-time energy usage across the CMAC labs and offices. This initiative raises awareness of our individual energy consumption and aims to initiate behavioral changes, such as turning off lights or shutting down equipment when not in use.

Automation

It is estimated that laboratory robotics are 1000 times faster than manual experimentation and operate with less errors. Investing in such automation equipment will not only significantly reduce our CO2 production, but also improve our research efficiency and data quality.

A scientist wearing blue gloves is preparing a vaccine or medication using a syringe and small glass vial inside a laboratory. Laboratory supplies including syringes, vials, and packaging materials are visible on the work surface.

Cultural

We have made some changes to our workplace culture, such as:

> Waste Awareness

> In-house Lab Coat Steaming

> Disposable Lab Coat/Lab Glove Recycling

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Replacement Instrumentation

We replaced equipment with newer, more energy efficient models. These newer models are more energy efficient, over 80% compared to the older instrument in some cases.

By replacing older units with more energy efficient ones we can achieve an energy saving equivalent to approximately 530 kg CO2 per year.

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Infastructure

Upgraded our water purification units minimize water consumption, cutting CO2 emissions. These newer models feature bactericidal and oxidation lamps, eliminating the use of toxic mercury consumables that could end up in the environment.

By connecting the CMAC X-Ray lab to the centralized building gas system, total CO2 emissions have been reduced by 5 tonnes per year.

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Digital

We have invested in new digital technologies that enable multi-site teams to collaborate innovatively on projects, fostering high engagement levels through immersive, real-time interactions while sharing live data.

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Future ready workforce

We are also investing in training and skills development for our researchers to embed net zero best practice into working practice.