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Environmental Sustainability Assessments of Pharmaceuticals: An Emerging Need for Simplification in Life Cycle Assessments
journal contribution
posted on 2014-10-21, 00:00 authored by Wouter De Soete, Sam Debaveye, Steven De Meester, Geert Van der Vorst, Wim Aelterman, Bert Heirman, Philippe Cappuyns, Jo DewulfThe pharmaceutical
and fine chemical industries are eager to strive
toward innovative products and technologies. This study first derives
hotspots in resource consumption of 2839 Basic Operations in 40 Active
Pharmaceutical Ingredient synthesis steps through Exergetic Life Cycle
Assessment (ELCA). Second, since companies are increasingly obliged
to quantify the environmental sustainability of their products, two
alternative ways of simplifying (E)LCA are discussed. The usage of
averaged product group values (R2 = 3.40
× 10–30) is compared with multiple linear regression
models (R2 = 8.66 × 10–01) in order to estimate resource consumption of synthesis steps. An
optimal set of predictor variables is postulated to balance model
complexity and embedded information with usability and capability
of merging models with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
data systems. The amount of organic solvents used, molar efficiency,
and duration of a synthesis step were shown to be the most significant
predictor variables. Including additional predictor variables did
not contribute to the predictive power and eventually weakens the
model interpretation. Ideally, an organization should be able to derive
its environmental impact from readily available ERP data, linking
supply chains back to the cradle of resource extraction, excluding
the need for an approximation with product group averages.
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2839 Basic OperationsELCAEnvironmental Sustainability Assessmentsbalance model complexityestimate resource consumptionR 2predictor variablesproduct group valuesPharmaceutical Ingredient synthesis stepsExergetic Life Cycle AssessmentLife Cycle AssessmentsTheEnterprise Resource PlanningERPproduct group averagesdata
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