The sustainability of bioprocessing depends on many decisions and technologies. As the UK Bioindustry Association (BIA) puts it: “As the world becomes increasingly focused on environmental responsibility, the bioprocessing industry is transforming its approach to reduce its environmental footprint without compromising quality or safety.” In short, sustainability and other factors must be in balance in bioprocessing.
In some cases, scale impacts sustainability. One example comes from Thermo Fisher Scientific. Their DynaDrive single-use bioreactor comes with a 3,000- or 5,000-L bioreactor tank. So, Thermo Fisher compared the sustainability of producing a 5,000-L batch with the DynaDrive using a 5,000-L tank versus a 2,000-L single-use bioreactor. By using the DynaDrive, the process produced nearly 30% less packaging waste.
Thermo Fisher is far from the only company that’s seeking more sustainable solutions for bioprocessors. The BIA site noted above, for example, includes links to sustainability projects at several multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Instead of focusing on just one part of bioprocessing, though, experts must think deeply about various questions. In general, assessing the sustainability of bioprocessing, and most other industries, requires exploring the options, sometimes looking across an entire bioprocess. For instance, two scientists from Sartorius recently noted: “End-to-end continuous bioprocessing can significantly reduce the [cost of goods], increase manufacturing robustness, and reduce the ecological footprint of biopharmaceutical manufacturing of mAbs.”
Plus, even something that sounds less sustainable, like single-use technology, might not be. As Debashis Dutta, PhD, a lecturer in the department of food processing technology at Mirmadan Mohanlal Government Polytechnic in West Bengal, India, and his colleagues pointed out: “As technology progresses, single-use bioreactors are projected to play an increasingly crucial role in developing sustainable and efficient food production processes.” The same could be true for producing biotherapeutics.
Although we live in a world dominated by soundbites and oversimplification, the take-home message is this: Most things are rarely as simple as they seem and only a thorough investigation and data produce actionable information. Plus, the ultimate success of any industry depends on finding balance among competing objectives.