Pharma
LCA Consortium
The Pharmaceutical Life-Cycle Assessment Consortium (“Pharma LCA”) came together under the banner of the Pharma Environment Group (PEG) and the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Taskforce.
A Shared And Credible Way To Measure The Environmental Impact Of Medicines
The Consortium’s purpose is to facilitate a universal approach to assessing the environmental impact of pharmaceutical products. This should enable pharmaceutical companies and their stakeholders, including payers, to make informed choices about product development and patient care. The Consortium’s outputs are freely accessible to all pharmaceutical companies and their stakeholders.
The LCA Consortium is undertaking four work packages dedicated to:
& Guidance
Database
Engagement
The First Global Standard
PAS 2090:2025 – Pharmaceutical Products: Product Category Rules for Environmental Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) is the first international standard providing a harmonised framework to measure and communicate the environmental impact of medicines across their entire lifecycle.
Key stages for cradle-to-grave product assessments
The standard was developed through an independent, multi-stakeholder consensus process led by BSI and sponsored by NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) and the Pharmaceutical LCA Consortium which came together working with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force and the Pharmaceutical Environment Group (PEG).
Technical Guidance Document
Why PAS 2090 is a major milestone:
News
PharmaLCA puts Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) within reach of the entire pharmaceutical value chain – creating the foundation for reliable product-level environmental profiles.
MILAN, 6 October 2026: Today, the Pharma LCA Consortium and AllocNow are unveiling PharmaLCA, the software endorsed by the Consortium's twelve member companies to accelerate industry-wide adoption of PAS 2090. Published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) at the end of 2025 and shaped by more than 475 stakeholders across 35 countries, PAS 2090 is the first international standard to give the pharmaceutical sector a harmonised method for measuring and communicating the environmental impact of its products. PharmaLCA has accessibility built into the core of the software, making it easier for non-technical professionals at companies including manufacturers, suppliers, and small pharmaceutical companies, to create robust environmental assessments.
PharmaLCA will be showcased by the Pharma LCA Consortium and AllocNow for the first time at CPHI Milan, on 6 October 2026 at the Sustainability Spotlight Stage and on 7 October 2026 at the CPHI Sustainability Summit.
Why this matters for the industry
The healthcare sector accounts for approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and for many pharmaceutical products the majority of their environmental footprint is in the manufacturing process. Understanding where the environmental drivers arise is therefore key in identifying effective opportunities for improvement and a strategic priority for many pharmaceutical companies. By making robust LCA studies more accessible, PharmaLCA aims to help the pharmaceutical stakeholders to develop a practical understanding of their key environmental drivers and identify targeted, evidence-based opportunities to improve environmental performance and advance their sustainability programmes.
What PharmaLCA offers
PharmaLCA runs pharmaceutical product end-to-end assessments covering all 16 environmental impact categories of the European Commission Product Environmental Footprint methodology (PEF) in line with the requirements of PAS 2090. The software has successfully undergone an independent evaluation by TÜV SÜD based on the requirements of PAS 2090. PharmaLCA is offered through a free Starter Plan and a paid Professional Plan, providing flexibility to meet different users' needs. As a web-based solution, PharmaLCA requires no installation and is designed to support all stakeholders across the pharmaceutical value chain, from suppliers and contract manufacturers to sustainability professionals regardless of their level of Life Cycle Assessment experience.
”Optimising healthcare environmental contribution requires action across the value chain. PharmaLCA turns PAS 2090 into practical capability, making consistent pharmaceutical product-level measurement more accessible and helping the pharma industry turn shared sustainability ambitions into measurable progress."
Sarah Arias Zeballos, Global Eco-design Leader and PharmaLCA Tool Lead, Sanofi, on behalf of the Pharma LCA Consortium
Where PharmaLCA goes from here
PharmaLCA is more than LCA software. Developed in collaboration with the Pharma LCA Consortium and external testers, it is building a shared foundation for environmental measurement across the pharmaceutical value chain. Aligned with PAS 2090, PharmaLCA will continue to evolve with industry needs and emerging environmental requirements.
”Twelve of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies chose us to build PharmaLCA, and our ambition is simple: to turn life cycle assessment from a compliance project into a business advantage – evidence that wins tenders, answers customers with confidence, and makes products better by design. Today’s launch is a starting point, not a finish line; we intend to develop PharmaLCA alongside the standard for years to come.”
Daniel Bochnitschek, Co-Founder, AllocNow
For more information: PharmaLCA
Upcoming webinars: The Consortium and AllocNow will be hosting an open webinar, From Theory to Practice: Delivering PAS 2090-compliant Pharmaceutical LCAs, sharing practical insights and lessons on PAS 2090 implementation, including a demonstration of PharmaLCA.
From Theory to Practice: Delivering PAS 2090-compliant Pharmaceutical LCAs
Resources
Below are resources to help your organisation prepare for and engage on PAS 2090, including recommendations and illustrative examples to support implementation.
Members
The Consortium was formally launched on November 1st, 2023, and consists of twelve members:
Contact
SLR Consulting provides the Project Management Office (PMO) for the Pharma LCA Consortium.
Please contact Daniel Witte if you would like to learn more.
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