Sustainability has become more important than ever to consumers and companies across all industries. In addition, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a key strategy for focusing on alignment of profitability with environmental and societal norms.
Conserving natural resources, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and recycling waste are examples of how businesses are acknowledging the impact they have on the environment and the communities in which they operate. At Drug Plastics, we’ve instituted the four pillars of CSR (Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement) into our daily operations throughout the company.
We apply this philosophy to what we’re doing to help our customers too. For example, we provide more sustainable resin options to manufacture our bottles and closures. This is one of the most significant ways to reduce the environmental impact of plastic packaging.
Source reduction and eliminating flame treatment of bottles are two other important methods to improve sustainability.
In this article, we discuss our commitment to social responsibility, and what we’re doing to offer more planet-friendly options to our customers.
Bronze Medal Recipient from EcoVadis
We are proud to have earned a Bronze Medal from this global provider of sustainability assessments and ratings for businesses and their suppliers. Drug Plastics qualified through the assessment of the four key pillars of CSR:
- Environment: includes environmental impact of our manufacturing operations and products
- Labor & Human Rights: includes employee relations, well-being, and human rights
- Ethics: includes corruption, anti-competitive practices, and responsible information management
- Sustainable Procurement: includes supplier environmental and social practices
These four pillars are important to us and are incorporated throughout Drug Plastics. Learn more on the EcoVadis website.
Committed to Science Based Targets Initiatives (SBTi)
We’ve committed to set near-term company-wide emission reductions in line with climate science from the SBTi. We have also committed to net-zero by 2050.
These targets provide a defined course for us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which helps to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and future-proof business growth. The targets are scientifically-based if they are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet established global goals. Learn more on the SBTi website.
Environmental Reporting with CDP
The CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) created a system for environmental reporting for corporations, municipalities, and the world’s largest companies. Key points include:
Purpose & Focus: we use the format to see where we are and what needs to be done to continue to manage our environmental impacts.
Disclosure System: Drug Plastics voluntarily discloses our environmental data through CDP’s platform.
Areas of Impact: helps drive positive change by encouraging responsible practices through various environmental aspects, like greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and climate change.
Corporate Environmental Action Tracker: we use this to track the progress we’ve made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also provides insights into corporate environmental actions.
Comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct
Our suppliers are an important part of our sustainability commitment. We are working towards ensuring that our supply chain is aligned with our own Corporate Social Responsibility Declaration through this stringent code of conduct. Our declaration includes 26 different attributes that further define the four pillars of CSR.
Drug Plastics Sustainability Case Study
We’ve made significant strides improving our own sustainability record at all of our factories and at the Corporate Office. Our goal is to implement programs and take actions that reduce our carbon footprint every single year.
Dramatically increasing our renewable/carbon-free electrical generation is a big accomplishment. Five of our bottle plants will have 100% renewable/carbon-free sourced electrical generation for 2024. Read our Case Study and learn about our other exciting accomplishments.
Tools and Resources for Customers
Designing plastic packaging can be complex – especially when your customers want more planet-friendly packaging. We’ve created tools and resources that can help cut through this complexity and provide various options from which to choose.
Sustainable Resin Options: in addition to traditional resin made from oil and natural gas, we offer resin made through Advanced Recycling or Mechanical Recycling, and resin derived from Renewable Bio-Materials. As mentioned, selecting a more planet-friendly resin can have a big impact on the environment.
Flame Treatment Elimination: this process that has historically been used to ensure that water-based adhesive labels and silk-screening would adhere properly to bottles is not always necessary. Determine the environmental impact when flaming is avoided by using our Flaming Elimination Calculator.
Source Reduction for Bottles and Closures: also known as right-weighting, we can often manufacture bottles and closures with less plastic. When a bottle or closure is manufactured with excess plastic, costs can be higher and plastic is wasted. Our Polypropylene Closure Calculator shows the savings you can realize when you switch to a one-part closure. We can help you determine the right weight for your product.
Sustainability Calculators: our calculators provide real-world savings results when you’re considering a switch to a more sustainable resin, if you want to reduce the amount of collateral packaging, or if you select plastic over glass. Check out our calculators and see how simple changes can have a big impact on your carbon footprint.
Sustainability Road Map: we show you how to transform a typical pharmaceutical bottle and closure system into more sustainable packaging. Read the blog.
Choose Plastic Over Glass: if you currently utilize glass to package your products, learn why plastic offers significant advantages when it comes to sustainability.
A Sustainable Packaging Partner
If sustainability is important to your business, wouldn’t it make sense to work with a packaging manufacturer that believes the same? At Drug Plastics, we take sustainability seriously, not only for our company, but for our customers as well. We all need to work together to conserve resources for future generations.
Let’s talk. Call 610-367-5000 to speak with an account representative who can discuss how we can help you make more sustainable packaging choices.
