Sandoz Canada president and general manager Michel Robidoux says his company attaining carbon neutrality for portions of its business sends a message he hopes other Canadian biosimilars and generic medication firms will follow.

The Montreal-headquartered affiliate of Sandoz Group AG (which was spun off from Novartis) received a carbon neutral certification from engineering consulting firm LCL Engineering, Environment & Sustainable Development, covering its building operations and business travel. 

Robidoux detailed how the company acted to measure, reduce and offset what it could not eliminate with carbon credits. He believes Sandoz Canada is the only generic medication company in the country that has been certified as carbon neutral.

With greater pressure from the health care industry to link to more sustainable suppliers, even medication producers and distributors must now consider the climate and waste, he said. 

“We think it’s a really important step for us to do as an organization to our employees, but also our customers to say, ‘We are mindful of our CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, we know all the targets that exist around the world and we want to do our fair share.’”

Digitizing and limiting business travel

Sandoz Canada is one of the largest generic drug makers and pharmaceutical firms in the country. Robidoux said there is no surgery in Canada that does not involve a Sandoz product. Over 55 million prescriptions per year are filled for approximately 700 of its products, he added.

The company continues to work to achieve the 2050 net-zero target that is being set by its parent, along with a zero waste to landfill ambition by 2030.

A visit to a pharmacy in Quebec inspired the carbon neutrality initiative, Robidoux said. In 2023, he met the owner of a business that displayed its environmental credentials, indicating the firm removes the carbon it emits. Intrigued, he brought the concept to Sandoz Canada’s green committee, and got the team on board to explore the idea.

Though as a local affiliate it does not control manufacturing or transporting medications, Sandoz Canada can address its offices, a warehouse in Burlington, Ont. and business travel.

The first action was calculating the CO2 emissions from the company’s operations in 2022. With the help of LCL Engineering, Sandoz Canada completed a series of questionnaires to understand its emissions. 

Business travel from driving and flights was the top culprit. As many of its buildings were already powered by clean energy, real estate was not a substantial source of emissions. Under 600 tonnes of CO2 were emitted in 2022 by 300 employees, with electricity and refrigerant purchases also contributing.

To take action, education was the first step. “We started to share how much emissions a plane from Toronto to Montreal is (making),” Robidoux said. When employees book flights, an app allows them to see the predicted emissions. 

Virtual meetings were encouraged, business travel was limited and fewer people were dispatched to conferences. Alternatives to planes were suggested when appropriate, such as taking the train. As the majority of its employees drive their personal vehicles for work, staff were incentivized to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV) — around 40 per cent now drive such a car.

Its travel emissions were cut “significantly” by the measures, Robidoux said, though he could not provide any figures during the interview.

Neutralizing what it can’t eliminate with credits

As its efforts could not eliminate all its CO2 emissions, Sandoz Canada also opted to purchase carbon credits.

Using the advice of LCL and Sandoz Canada’s legal team, company staff vote on the credit providers they deem most credible and effective, Christian Ouellet, Sandoz Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs, said in the interview.

“Outside of our research that we did and outside the counselling of the firm, all of our associates were able to do their own research to validate if it was the right organization to work with to get the benefit we want,” he explained.

Those companies include Canada's Carbone boreal and Will Solutions. Most of its credits are from reforestation efforts in Canada, but also land conservation, waste management and supporting the energy transition.

Greening operations is an increasingly important factor in the pharmaceuticals industry, Robidoux noted. Hospitals and group purchasers are starting to inquire about the carbon footprint of a supplier, making pursuits like a carbon neutrality certification a savvy business move.

Minimizing waste from medication packaging is a priority for Sandoz Canada, Ouellet said. The company is advocating for Health Canada to remove product monograph leaflets from medicine bottles, as the internet can provide online descriptions. It already packages hospital medications in cardboard boxes that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Establishing a sustainable supply chain and improving water management are other environmental efforts Sandoz Canada will address, Sophie Levasseur, the company’s corporate communications manager, said in the interview. 

“We hope other companies are going to follow suit,” Robidoux concluded.