Carbon footprint of medication packaging

Medications are estimated to be responsible for around 20% of healthcare’s carbon footprint, with around half of this impact due to their packaging.

As part of a collaboration with the Alfred Hospital Pharmacy Department, as well as colleagues at the University of Melbourne, our team is analysing and reporting on the carbon footprint of different types of medication packaging. This work will identify packaging features that contribute to higher environmental impacts and guide the development of principles for sustainable procurement in pharmacy.