Key Summary
- The UK government has committed £7 million to help the pharmaceutical industry reduce its carbon footprint by replacing petroleum-based solvents.
- A consortium led by ERM and Ayming—including GSK, Croda and Cytiva—will work together to develop sustainable alternatives.
- Over the next 36 months, the group aims to create eco-friendly solvent alternatives that can be adopted without major changes to existing manufacturing processes, supporting long-term decarbonisation.
The government has allocated over £7 million to a strategic consortium of industry players to help the pharmaceutical sector phase out petroleum-based solvents from their operations and reduce their carbon footprint.
Established by consultancy firms ERM and Ayming, the consortium also involves firms such as GSK, Croda, Exactment and Cytiva.
Petroleum-based solvents play a crucial role in pharmaceutical production chain, but they are a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.
For medicines manufacturers, bio-based alternatives are seen as one pathway to decarbonisation, but achieving the high purity and moisture control required for pharmaceutical applications has proven energy and cost intensive, delaying wider adoption.
ERM and Ayming is working towards finding environment-friendly alternatives to reduce the emission of Scope 3 greenhouse gases and achieve decarbonisation.
The consortium will spend the next 36 months working to help manufacturers adopt alternative solvents, without major changes to existing infrastructure or processes.
They will draw on the expertise of members including technology providers Exactmer, Queen Mary University London, Atmospheric AI and SOLVE Chemistry; solvent manufacturers OXCCU, Celtic Renewables and University of Leeds; global pharmaceutical companies GSK and Croda; global life sciences company Cytiva; and translational research and innovation organisation CPI.
The £7 million funding has been granted under Innovate UK’s Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Programme.
