Nowadays commitment to reducing consumption and environmental impact is an hot topic and an increasing requirement among international companies.
On a global scale, the sustainability goal has been sealed through the 2030 Agenda for a Sustainable World. In 2015 UN member countries added the new sustainability-related development goals for the period from 2016 to 2030.
For what concerns the pharma world, the United Nations has identified pharmaceutical pollution as an emerging global priority. Moreover, the European Commission has proved to be sensible to the pollution problem caused by drugs that create proven risks to the environment. The Commission in the document Strategic Approach to Pharmaceuticals in the Environment focused on three specific topics: pharmaceutical residue management, greenhouse gas emission and packaging sustainability
Ecor Internationalhas embarked on a path aimed at sustainability and respect for the environment for some years now. Our company has held ISO 14001 certification for more than two decades.The company policy includes actions in the area of natural resource preservation and encourages the use of sustainable materials throughout the production process and product life cycle.
The Pharma Business Unit, in particular, has been engaged for years not only in supplying systems and plants to its customers but also in prototyping and manufacturing components for machinery that reduce consumption and emissions.
“The systems we designed for our customers in the past were primarily aimed at fulfill specifications and improving performances. The issue of consumption was of secondary importance. Today energy saving and sustainability have become design requirements” -explains Davide Zulpo, Pharma & Advanced Mechanics KAM Manager, Ecor International-.
“Recovery of waste heat is a key area of research we are moving into, in collaboration with the research centre Il Sentiero International Campus . We produce systems which use steam or superheated water for washing (the CIP-SIP systems) are integrated with heat exchangers to recover the heat itself before discharge.
We also select plant and machinery components with consumption data in mind.
Water saving is another area of research. We are aware that this resource is becoming more and more precious. Therefore we consider it essential to develop our plants through solutions aimed at containing water use and avoiding water waste” -concludes Davide Zulpo -.
The Pharma Business Unit’s customers are usually pharmaceutical industry corporations with focus ib requirements for sustainability and consumption reduction. Evidence is that internal audits are being cunducted more frequently with a focus on process and product sustainability.
The Pharma Business Unit culminated an already excellent 2022 in terms of growth with a favourable outcome of the audit held by one of its main customers. A world leader in the design and manufacture of automatic machines for the processing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, this customer has 53 production facilities worldwide (in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Malaysia, China and Argentina).
The audit favourable outcome has been enhanced by concrete actions put in place by Ecor International the use of low-consumption lighting and automatic shut-off systems for lights, constant monitoring of resource consumption, and annual targets for the progressive reduction of consumption.
“We have not only embraced our values of respect, transparency and responsibility (towards our employees, safety, the environment and the community) but we have also put them into practice with concrete actions for sustainable growth. We can see how these choices are increasingly becoming a real competitive advantage” – clarifies Fabio Pozzebon, Business Manager Pharma & Advanced Mechanics Area – “The 2022 audit positive outcome was a reason for us at Pharma to take considerable pride. It is also a sign that the company’s policies on consumption reduction and environmental friendliness are going in the right direction for the future”.
@EcorIntern