Our climate journey
At Berlinger, we take action in various areas of our business to reduce our environmental impact. With Berlinger’s SmartSystem, your sustainability goals are at the heart of our innovation and system design process. SmartSystem is the first Climate Neutral Product of the cold chain monitoring industry, combining sustainable choices with significant cost reductions. Find out more about the climate ambitions brought to action with Berlinger SmartSystem.
An emission-extensive industry
While committing to the well-being of people, recent research by South Pole shows that the pharmaceutical industry's emissions intensity is about 55% higher compared to the automotive industry. This goes back to raw materials in manufacturing and shipping, followed by the temperature-controlled logistics with high emissions exposure due to the use of electronical components, the disposal and high energy consumption. A benchmarking from South Pole in 2021 (South Pole 2021) rated pharma companies on their progress on the climate journey: 75% are measuring emissions for their operations and their entire value chain with first footprint analysis, whereas only 6.8% set the target to become climate neutral by 2025 and only 4.5% are climate neutral today or will be by the end of 2022. Apart from a company’s own ambitions, the involvement of suppliers and partners in climate actions is key. Source: South Pole 2021
At Berlinger, we want to make our contribution to the industry by leading as an example with a system that is designed to be sustainable whilst meeting the regulatory and commercial requirements of our customers. The climate neutral product label that we received for the SmartSystem hardware is an important milestone and important proof of our concept.
Carbon footprint analysis SmartMonitor
- Carbon footprint analysis SmartMonitor SHIP M, SHIP L and SITE L: A recent study by the renowned sustainability advisor South Pole on behalf of Berlinger provided insightful details on the areas in which CO2 emissions arise in connection with monitoring the cold chain. South Pole has calculated the full-life-cycle product carbon footprints (PCFs) of Berlinger’s SmartMonitor devices SHIP M, SHIP L and SITE L which serve as a baseline for emission reduction measure identification and tracking emissions year on year.
- Key findings on emissions breakdown: 85% emissions are generated by raw materials versus just 6% for transport and distribution and 9% for others (manufacturing, disposal, refurbishment). This clearly identified raw material use as main hotspot of emitted carbon dioxide.*
- Single-use vs. re-use: Already 70% of re-use and refurbishment of devices can lead to 67% reduction of emissions compared to single-use.*
*Study conducted by South Pole/southpole.com 2022
Berlinger's journey to climate neutrality for SmartSystem
- Mindset: While developing SmartSystem, sustainability was considered as a top requirement. The path towards a Climate Neutral Product started with the clear expectation to the innovative processes that SmartSystem is designed, sourced, and sold sustainably.
- Footprint analysis: Looking at the footprint of the real-time hardware generation, the use of raw materials was identified as the main driver of emissions. SmartSystem is designed as a modular platform to optimize opportunities on sustainable production and component refurbishment. Services that enable re-use, refurbishment, rental, and recycling were established at Berlinger to come closer to a Climate Neutral Product.
- Reduce: On the journey, Berlinger arrived at an innovative approach to reach the full real-time visibility while reducing heavy real-time devices in the market, “Modular Real-time”. A father-child technology that allows less devices, less emissions, less related hardware costs, but at 100% real-time coverage.
- Compensate: As electronical components are still needed, Berlinger is offsetting the unavoidable emission by funding a sustainable project. Berlinger's climate action for SmartMonitor is to support the Rimba Raya forest conservation project in Borneo, Indonesia. This project investment aligns with our corporate values and has a quantifiable, traceable impact. More about Rimba Raya
- Optimization: Berlinger will continue to evaluate opportunities to further optimize on the product concept and business models to reduce the footprint of SmartSystem.
As a conclusion, increasing the real-time visibility of supply chain and reducing CO2 emissions and costs are not mutually exclusive. We must find creative ways to make that happen.
Climate Neutral Product Label
Berlinger SmartMonitor
Reducing your carbon footprint with SmartSystem
Re-use & Rental
Increase the number of re-useable devices
Services
Re-use of components and environmental friendly disposal
Modular Real-Time
Reduce raw material consumption with intercommunication
Data for more sustainable choices
Digitalization has changed cold chain towards more visibility on an inventory level.
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