Challenging to achieve both “Contributing to Society through Healthcare” and “reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the growing medical field”

Terumo Corporation

Outline

Terumo manufactures and sells medical devices and pharmaceuticals in over 160 countries and regions of the world under the group mission of "Contributing to Society through Healthcare”.

The medical device / pharmaceutical market is a high-growth market area where growth is expected to average 5-6% annually. With the spread of lifestyle-related diseases and the increasing potential opportunities in emerging markets such as China and India, steady global growth is expected.

In the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) addresses “Health and medical services provided close to the public” and "Necessary measures and support for children with infectious diseases”, and so increasing the production of medical devices and pharmaceuticals is indispensable.

In this market environment, Terumo has set Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets based on SBT(SBT: Science Based Targets) initiative reduction scenarios with a goal of FY2030. The company will challenge to reduce both direct greenhouse gas emissions, as well as supply chain related emissions. Terumo will strive to achieve both "Contributing to Society through Healthcare" and "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions" in the growing medical field.

Description

Terumo has set the following the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (SBTs) and will take concrete actions to achieve “Challenge Zero”.

[Terumo Group’s SBTs]
・ SCOPE1 & 2
Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 30% by 2030 from a 2018 base year
・ SCOPE3
Reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions 60% per unit of revenue by 2030 from a 2018 base year.

1. Reduction of SCOPE1 & 2 emissions
1-1. Promotion of energy saving
・ We will work to further improve energy efficiency by sharing BPT (Best Practice Technologies) and introducing BAT (Best Available Technologies) when updating equipment.
・ Efficient operation of air-conditioning and sterilization equipment, improvement of production processes, etc., and efforts to reduce the amount of energy used to produce offices and products.

1-2. Utilization of renewable energy
・ Reduce CO2 emissions by actively utilizing renewable energy, such as installing solar power generation equipment on the roof of factories and purchasing power derived from renewable energy.

2. Reduction of SCOPE3 emissions
We mainly manufacture and sell medical devices, pharmaceuticals and nutritional foods used by medical institutions. In medical fields in many countries around the world, preventing infectious diseases and achieving safe and secure medical care for more patients is one of the top priorities. Medical devices, apparatus and environment at medical sites are, for instance, easily contaminated by pathogens of infectious diseases, and they are considered desirable to avoid reusing medical devices such as syringes and intravenous solution bags from the viewpoint of preventing infection and preventing the spread of contamination.

Our single-use products are indispensable for solving the problem and are regarded as very basic products used by all healthcare professionals. However, single-use products consume many raw materials in one-time use. In addition, final products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world, including developing countries, so it is inevitable that each time they are transported, they will emit a lot of GHG.

In order to provide safe and secure medical care, it is not easily possible to change the current usage of single-use products to multiple uses due to legal and physical limitation. However, Terumo will continue to challenge the following initiatives By doing so, we will take on the challenge of realizing “reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the growing medical field”.

2-1. Providing new medical treatment methods
According to a survey by the World Health Organization, of the 56.9 million deaths around the world in 2016, the leading cause of death was ischemic heart disease, such as angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. These diseases claimed the lives of 9.4 million people and accounted for 17% of deaths in that year. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using catheters is a widely used method of treating ischemic heart disease.
A common PCI procedure used to treat ischemic heart disease is transfemoral intervention (TFI), which entails inserting catheters through the femoral artery in the groin. Recently, however, the use of TRI, a procedure in which catheters are inserted through the radial artery in the wrist, has become more common out of consideration for its ability to contribute to higher patient quality of life and reduced medical spending. TRI does not require hemostasis procedures around the groin, and patients are generally able to walk sooner after TRI procedures than after TFI procedures, resulting in shorter hospital stays. Furthermore, the rate of bleeding complications at the site of catheter insertion after procedures is said to be lower, and a U.S. clinical study has indicated that the cost of TRI is roughly ¥90,000 less than TFI per procedure.
We believe this is also a contribution to eco-friendly. The realization of minimally invasive treatment makes it possible to reduce the amount of medical equipment and medicines required for conventional treatment, and to significantly reduce the amount of SCOPE3 required for treatment.

Although TRI boasts these benefits, it is also more difficult to perform than TFI as it can be hard to insert catheters into the narrow blood vessel (radial artery) and the access to the coronary artery is tortuous. Terumo is seeking to remove these obstacles by developing and supplying refined and improved devices for use in TRI procedures. At the same time, we are working together with highly talented Japanese physicians to develop training programs and educational tools while creating opportunities for techniques to be transferred between physicians. We thereby aim to spread understanding of the value of TRI along with the techniques for performing this procedure. As result of these ongoing efforts, the percentage of PCI procedures for ischemic heart disease represented by TRI has been found to be around 90% in China, 70% in Japan, and 40%–50% in Asia and Europe. Moreover, the rate of use of this procedure has risen to roughly 35% in the United States, despite being less than 10% a decade ago.
Terumo plans to continue to collaborate with medical institutions, academic associations, and government bodies in various countries to promote the spread of TRI. Through the ongoing provision of the products and training support necessary based on the circumstances and issues faced in medical settings in each country, we will taking on the challenge of disseminating better healthcare and reducing SCOPE3 emissions related to healthcare.

2-2. Miniaturization and weight reduction of products, improvement of manufacturing process
Terumo has established and applied to product development its proprietary Human×Eco Development Guidelines, a set of guidelines for developing products that are friendly to both people and the environment.
We constantly operate a system to review activities that conform to the “Human x Eco Development Guidelines” throughout the entire life cycle from product design, material procurement, manufacturing, transportation, and use to disposal. We will taking on the challenge of disseminating better healthcare and reducing SCOPE3 emissions related to healthcare.

2-3. Collaboration with suppliers
In 2019, Terumo established the Terumo Group Procurement Policy and Supplier Guidelines, which outline Terumo's basic stance on procurement activities. The guidelines call on all suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, effectively use water and energy, and promote resource conservation (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle).
We will share our SBT with major suppliers and request cooperation on the following to achieve the SCOPE3 target.

-Category 1: Provision of GHG-related data in the production of supplied raw materials (promotion of visualization), reduction of GHG emissions during raw material production, development of raw materials with low environmental impact, etc.

-Categories 4 & 9: Joint delivery with other companies in the industry, improvement of cargo loading efficiency, utilization of electric vehicles, promotion of modal shift such as change from truck transport to rail and ship transport, consolidation of distribution bases and optimization of transport routes ,etc.

By taking on the above initiatives, Terumo will strive to achieve both “Contributing to Society through Healthcare”and “reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the growing medical field”.