Environmental stewardship and resilience
We minimise our footprint through climate action, water management, resource efficiency, and safe chemical use while strengthening resilience.
:quality(80))
Climate change
While we contribute to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs), we also see the need to respond to physical and transition risks and opportunities arising from climate change. Our climate action, therefore, involves both climate change mitigation and adaptation across our value chain.
Climate targets
We have set science-based climate targets for the entire Octapharma Group in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) framework, to contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Climate action
To meet our climate targets, we have developed a data-driven, Group-wide roadmap to reduce emissions across our operations and value chain over the next 25 years.
The global roadmap serves as a consistent framework for all Octapharma locations and provides a structured approach to prioritise projects based on emission reduction potential, implementation feasibility and cost–benefit considerations.
Within our own operations (Scope 1 and 2), we prioritise the replacement of refrigerants, energy efficiency and expanded use of renewable electricity. Focus areas to tackle Scope 3 emissions include collaborating with key suppliers on emission-reduction plans, increasing resource efficiency through, for example, increased ethanol redistillation and enhanced recycling, shifting logistics routes from air to sea freight, reducing business flights, and promoting lower-emission commuting options for employees.
We have several climate action initiatives in place to reduce emissions from our own operations and across our value chain (Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3), including:
Refrigerant replacement
We are working to prevent refrigerant leaks at our production sites and plasma donation centres in line with the European F-Gas Directive. Our approach focuses on: minimising leaks from fluorinated refrigerants where they remain in use, while transitioning to natural or lower global warming potential alternatives like ammonia or CO2 to ensure more sustainable cooling systems.
Energy efficiency
We are improving energy efficiency through upgrading machinery and HVAC systems, installing modern heat recovery systems and heat pumps, and optimising air exchange rates in cleanrooms.
Renewable and clean electricity
We purchase 100% renewable or clean electricity for all our production sites and our packaging and logistics site in Europe. In 2025, we began transitioning our U.S. donation centres towards 100% renewable or clean electricity.
Transportation and distribution
We are continuously optimising transport routes, and reviewing how we can use sea and road transport instead of air freight when delivering our products to customers. In 2025, we started to ship products by sea to China whilst maintaining full GDP compliance. Ultimately, this will result in up to a 95% CO2 reduction on this route. From 2025, all products transported in Europe by 24-ton and 13.6m trucks are required to use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) derived entirely from waste, replacing diesel and reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90%.
Climate impact
In 2025, our total GHG emissions amounted to 427,189 tCO2e, reflecting an increase of 12% from 2024 (381,339 tCO2e). GHG emissions from our own operations (Scope 1 and Scope 2) amounted to 16% of our total emissions in 2025, while 84% originated from our upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3). The majority of our Scope 3 emissions came from capital goods (33%) and purchased goods and services (27%).
Climate risk
We conducted a climate-related financial risk assessment under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, identifying and evaluating acute and chronic physical risks alongside transition risks and opportunities.
Physical risks
In the baseline assessment, over 99% of the insured asset value was rated as having low or very low risk from chronic hazards, while over 97% was rated as having low or very low risk from acute hazards. Therefore, Octapharma’s portfolio can be considered largely unaffected by physical climate risks.
Considering the high-emission scenario, a shift towards higher exposure to physical risks is projected, with both acute and chronic risk exposure increasing in the long-term (2080). Chronic risks are predicted to be the dominant driver. In terms of exposure, the main identified hazards at our production sites and key warehouses are heat stress, water stress, changing freshwater temperatures and, to a lesser extent, heavy precipitation.
Transition risks and opportunities
In the low-emission scenario, no material climate-related financial transition risks or opportunities were identified in the short term (2030).
Use of chemicals
Proper handling of chemicals is essential in pharmaceuticals for human health and safety, product quality and environmental protection. We ensure the proper handling of chemicals in our research, development and production processes.
The use and handling of chemicals is highly regulated in all countries where we have manufacturing sites. Our policies and processes are designed to ensure compliance with these regulations. Sites have rapid response mechanisms and countermeasures in place for any incidents that may occur. All relevant employees undertake emergency training to prepare for any incidents.
We closely monitor the use and handling of chemicals to ensure our emissions are within regulatory limits, with all relevant data reported to the respective authorities where necessary. In 2025, emissions to water predominantly comprised Total Organic Carbon (TOC) from production sites. This decreased 14% compared with 2024. The screening of production sites did not identify material pollution to soil or air.
Water
The production of plasma-derived medicines requires large quantities of purified water, mainly for cleaning equipment and facilities. We track the water used in our operations and manage water-use efficiency, water quality and the handling of wastewater.
Our work involves mapping water use in our production processes and ensuring that any new equipment uses water more efficiently. For example, we have made clean-in-place (CIP) and sterilisation in place (SIP) improvements to reduce the amounts of water used. CIP and SIP are methods to clean or sterilise equipment.
Our sites have functional wastewater infrastructure to prevent water pollution. Wastewater passes through neutralisation tanks, where we adjust the pH before it enters the public wastewater network. Laboratories collect rinsing water in drums, which are then treated in an appropriate process to prevent water pollution. We use heat sterilisation for biologically hazardous wastewater where appropriate.
Resource use
Efficient resource management is key to minimising waste, optimising materials, and ensuring sustainable operations. We focus on the management of resources throughout their life cycle, including the use of recycled and reusable materials, minimising waste, maximising resource efficiency, and closing material loops.
We are committed to optimising resource use and integrating circular economy principles in our operations to reduce waste and improve efficiency. Our approach extends across various materials, from packaging to critical production inputs like ethanol.
Across packaging and logistics, we use long-lasting plastic pallets or recycled wooden pallets and optimise pallet use — for example, by increasing the quantity per pallet for shipments. We are also working with packaging suppliers to take a circular approach in tertiary and secondary packaging, where possible. We require that all packaging maintains a high level of product safety and meets regulatory requirements.