Environmental Sustainability in Bioprocessing

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Enabling more sustainable bioprocessing

At Thermo Fisher Scientific, our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer. We understand the importance of environmental responsibility in the dynamic world of biopharmaceuticals, and we are committed to helping you meet your sustainability goals.

We offer several ways to help you meet your sustainability goals by:

Designing solutions with sustainability in mind
Delivering products with lower total carbon footprint
Optimizing processes for efficiency and sustainability

Recycle bioprocess containers and support your sustainability goals

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Designing solutions with sustainability in mind

We seek to understand and minimize the environmental impact of our products and packaging throughout a product’s life cycle — from design to end of life. Single-use technologies (SUT) offer exceptional quality and efficiency in bioprocessing, accelerating the pathway to commercialization. It allows customers to reduce contamination risk and increase performance. SUT also enables lower consumption of key resources (e.g., water, electricity, space) and has been observed to have less environmental impact than traditional manufacturing with stainless-steel. Single-use bioreactors (S.U.B.s), for example, have been shown to greatly reduce water consumption and facility energy use when compared to stainless steel bioreactors (SSBs). Deploying innovative equipment can also support the reduction of consumables usage as well.

Coming soon: First-of-its-kind film for Bioprocessing Containers (BPCs) and Nunc Cell Factories Reduces carbon emissions equivalent to growing nearly 250,000 trees¹ Consult with our specialists to learn more
DynaDrive Single-Use Bioreactor Up to 27% less packaging reducing waste Download green fact sheet
DynaSpin Single-Use Centrifuge Up to 74% less liquid and 69% less filter waste relative to traditional depth filtration workflows Download green fact sheet
Labtainer Pro BioProcessing Container 24% reduction in packaging Download green fact sheet
Aegis Film Designed without PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) Download brochure

¹USEPA GHG Equivalent Calculator for 14,000 tCO2e based on 2023 production of film.

Optimizing supply chain to reduce carbon emissions from transport

Leverage our global manufacturing network and in-region manufacturing capabilities to reduce your Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions are all the indirect emissions that occur in the value chain (e.g., shipping a product to your facility). In-region manufacturing allows product to be delivered with the a limited carbon footprint.

Optimizing processes for efficiency and sustainability

Our team of specialists is available to support you as you design your operations with efficiency and sustainability in mind. We are available to review your current workflow and provide recommendations and actions to optimize workflows and reduce environmental impact. Whether you're interested in reducing waste, minimizing carbon emissions, or optimizing resource consumption, our team is here to support and guide you.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Yes. The future of sustainability in bioprocessing involves having a smaller footprint, smaller buildings, smaller HVAC, and less energy use. Single-use technologies are uniquely enabled to help achieve this, as they allow for a lower consumption of key resources, especially around water, electricity, space, steelwork, and cleaning products.

The Thermo Fisher DynaSpin Single-use Centrifuge is an excellent example, demonstrating:

25% lower total harvest cost from reductions in filter usage
70% fewer clarifying filters
78% liquid waste reduction
70% plastic waste reduction

Learn more about DynaSpin >

Learn more about the benefits of single-use technology when compared to stainless steel.

Yes. We understand how important BPC recycling is and offer a convenient connection to a recycling service. Learn more >

Corporate commitment

Our commitment to environmental sustainability supports our Mission and helps our customers achieve their sustainability goals. Our climate strategy includes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets that align with the Paris Agreement and have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Learn more about our Corporate sustainability commitments.

Always with an eye on innovation, we strive to reduce the environmental footprint of our products, without compromising quality and performance. Learn more about our Greener by Design program.

By working with Thermo Fisher, you can leverage our expertise and solutions to help achieve your sustainability goals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you. Together, let's build a more sustainable future.