Photo: Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk, the global pharmaceutical company founded and headquartered in Denmark, has been working to solve sustainability problems for decades. And for that, they have been a guiding star in all things sustainable.
Problem
When your products can’t be recycled and mostly end up in landfills, and you use billions of litres of water and have more than 60,000 suppliers, you typically have a problem. The global pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, founded and headquartered in Denmark, has been working to solve that problem for decades. And for that, they have been a guiding star in all things sustainable.
Solution
Novo Nordisk pioneered the corporate world and introduced the triple bottom line into its company bylaws more than 25 years ago. When adhering to this the company must conduct its business in a socially, environmentally, and financially responsible way. But when you produce hundreds of millions of injection pens, and they end up on landfills all over the world, you are faced with a hard-core challenge to live up to the mission.
Part of the solution is circularity which will help reach the target of net zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2045.
100% renewable electricity
In 2020 the company achieved its goal of using renewable electricity across the global production. The next step is to transform the business processes to eliminate the environmental footprint from operations. By 2030, the ambition is to have zero CO2 from operations and transport.
Re-design
The company is engaged in re-designing both existing and future products to reduce waste. Everything from the raw materials that go into the products to how they are put together and how the product ends its life must be re-thought so materials can be collected and recycled into new products.
Working with the supply chain
95% of the total emissions of Novo Nordisk come from the supply chain. Usually, that is the perfect excuse for saying “sorry, nothing we can do about that” but instead, Novo Nordisk is working with suppliers to reach a target that all direct suppliers must use renewable energy by 2030. That includes more than 60,000 suppliers globally.
It goes without saying that progress cannot be made without partnerships and close collaboration across the value chain and with public-private partnerships to support the development.
Setting up your company in the Greater Copenhagen region gives you access to world-leading experience in business and production transformation, the networks and globally leading life science eco-system that will help your business succeed in the future.
Interested in knowing more about the Danish Life Science sector and the opportunities for your business? Contact Copenhagen Capacity today.
Niels Thun Andersen
Head of Life Science Team
Copenhagen Capacity
E-mail: nta@copcap.com
Photo credit: Novo Nordisk, Johan F Paulsson
