Studys and Surveys

Pharmaceutical transport: Active temperature control is significantly more environmentally friendly than passive temperature control

Study proves clear benefits of actively temperature-controlled logistics chains over passive temperature control – up to four times less climate impact, shipments in returnable containers always perform best

What is the most environmentally friendly method of transporting pharmaceuticals and other sensitive goods safely and without the risk of loss of efficacy or even loss of function? “We must be able to give an accurate and informed answer to this question as a responsible company that offers active temperature control of the entire logistics chain to make shipments safer.” For Wolfgang P. Albeck, CEO of trans-o-flex, this was the reason to commission a study. It was not only intended to critically examine the company’s own business practices. Rather, the question was to be clarified as clearly as possible on the basis of scientific data. “Because there is a lot at stake here,” says Albeck. “On the one hand, sustainability plays an increasingly important role for our customers, and we want to offer not only safe and reliable but also environmentally friendly logistics solutions. On the other hand, it is a question of whether we are on the right track with the investments that are necessary for the further expansion of actively temperature-controlled transport networks.”

The results of the study surprised even the experienced logistics manager Albeck. “At least I didn’t expect it to be so clear,” he admits. The analysis and comparison of the methods for temperature-controlled shipments that can be considered in principle has clearly demonstrated the superiority of active temperature control with regard to the emissions balance. “Our investigations based on scientific calculations have led to the conclusion that the climate impact of an actively temperature-controlled shipment is up to four times lower than that of a passive temperature-controlled shipment.”

In the case of passive temperature control, the correct temperature is to be provided by cold packs and special packaging. With active temperature control, the load compartments of the vehicles and the transhipment zones in the logistics centres are kept completely within the respective temperature range, which means that consignments do not require special packaging.”

Study examines single-use and returnable packaging

The trans-o-flex study calculated the level of climate impact for each of the two methods in two variants: with single-use and with returnable packaging. “It was to be expected that the returnable systems would have lower emissions than the single-use systems in both cases,” says Albeck. “But we didn’t expect active temperature control to be so much more environmentally friendly than passive.”

The impacts on climate produced by passive temperature control are at least twice as high as those produced by active temperature control. The following four core results were reached:

1. The climate impact of active temperature control with a returnable container is 2.63 times lower than with passive temperature control with a returnable container.

2. It is 3.93 times lower than with passive temperature control with single-use cardboard.

3. The climate impact of active temperature control with single-use cardboard packaging is twice (2.0) lower than passive temperature control with returnable containers.

4. It is 2.99 times lower than with passive temperature control with single-use cardboard.

Comprehensive well-to-wheel approach

The analysis was conducted in three steps. Firstly, the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of a non-temperature-controlled shipment were calculated using the example of truck transport between Munich and Berlin. To do this – as well as for the other calculation steps – all direct and indirect GHGs were calculated in a well-to-wheel approach from the provision of a resource to its conversion into kinetic energy. These emissions are measured in terms of CO2 equivalents (CO2e), which means that other greenhouse gas emissions are taken into account in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2). In the second step, it was determined how much additional CO2e is produced when the consignments are transported with active temperature control. In the third step, the additional CO2e (compared to non-temperature-controlled transport) was determined when the consignments are passively temperature-controlled.

The scientific basis for the calculations was, on the one hand, the GLEC framework (Module 5), a globally recognised method for emissions reporting that covers all transport modes and transhipment points of global logistics chains. On the other hand, the results of the distance-based calculations according to the GLEC standard were checked for plausibility using the EcoTransIT calculator. “The EcoTransIT calculator developed in close cooperation with neutral institutes such as ifeu, INFRAS or Fraunhofer IML has confirmed the GLEC results,” explains Albeck. “For example, for non-temperature-controlled transport, GLEC came to 47.63 kg CO2e per tonne and EcoTransIT came to 47.33.”

Current average weights of packages transported by trans-o-flex were used to calculate emissions at package level. According to this, a package weighing 11 kilos is responsible for 656 g CO2e when actively temperature controlled (in returnable packaging) between Munich and Berlin. However, if a package is transported on the same route with passive packaging (single-use system without a polystyrene box), 2,579 g of CO2e are produced per package. If a returnable system is also used for passive temperature control, then 1,723 g of CO2e are still produced per package. “In addition to the 2 to 4 times higher climate impact, passive temperature control also means additional cost and effort in disposing of the temperature loggers, handling the cold packs and stocking them,” says Albeck.

Albeck considers the varying degrees of security associated with the different transport methods to be equally important. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Parenteral Drug Association, nearly one in five health products is damaged during transport due to a break in the cold chain.” And this happens above all when the “risk-based approach (= without temperature control) or passive temperature control in medicine transport” is used. “The risks of these modes of transport have always been there, but they have become unpredictable, not least given the increasing volatility of the weather and more transport delays due to traffic congestion.”

Any shipment without temperature control can compromise the effects of pharmaceuticals

In Germany, anyone who does not monitor and control the temperature at which pharmaceuticals are transported runs the risk every day of the year that a product will lose its effectiveness during transit. We investigated why this is so and how high the risk is in several nationwide series of tests. We displays the result of its evaluation every day in relation to the current daily temperatures on our website. Regardless of the time of day and whether the shipment is transported in summer or winter, there is no outside temperature at which pharmaceuticals without temperature control can be maintained within the room temperature range of 15 to 25 degrees without risk. The lowest risk is at an outside temperature of 16 degrees. Here, the likelihood of a consignment being transported in a vehicle without temperature control at below 15 or above 25 degrees Celsius on delivery is 16 %. Above and below this temperature the risk increases sharply (see graph).

In our experience, senders of pharmaceuticals requiring refrigeration know very well how easily their sensitive products can leave the prescribed range of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius without appropriate temperature control in the supply chain and lose their effectiveness as a result. To prevent this from happening, they employ the services of trans-o-flex subsidiary ThermoMed. But in the room temperature range of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius created for other medicines, the risk is still underestimated today. This is why we wanted to use data collected in practice to show how high the risk actually is. To this end, we started extensive series of measurements in different seasons. During the measurement periods, delivery vehicles were equipped with temperature loggers at 17 trans-o-flex sites distributed across Germany. Three operational scenarios were tested at each site: an intercity route, a city route and a mixed route. The measuring instruments used (temperature loggers) recorded the temperature every 15 minutes with an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius and stored it together with the time and date of the measurement. A total of 152,920 readings were taken in this way during the test periods. Each of these temperature values was related to the outside temperature that was simultaneously recorded at a measuring station of the German Weather Service that was closest to the vehicle. To reduce the evaluation effort, we concentrated our analysis on 40,151 readings, which were collected between 8 am and 4 pm Monday to Friday.

Temperature alarm: service quantifies risk of non-temperature-controlled deliveries

The time periods were selected because the delivery vehicles are usually on the road during these times. On the basis of this data, our IT department has developed the Temperature Alarm website tool. This means everyone can now quantify the risk of non-temperature-controlled shipments. The Temperature Alarm service on our website trans-o-flex.com (see right orange box) provides daily details of the maximum and minimum temperatures to be expected and the corresponding risk of a consignment being transported in a vehicle without temperature control at more than 25 degrees or below 15 degrees.

With an outside temperature of 23 degrees, more than 50 degrees on the load bed

The test results clearly show that there is no significant risk on any day. The study also confirmed several general findings. Firstly, the temperature in the loading space of a vehicle without temperature control follows the rise in outside temperatures during the course of the day without any significant time delay. Secondly, the loading space does not heat up slowly and in parallel with the increase in the external temperature, but the interior temperature increases in some cases exponentially to the external temperature. Even at an outside temperature of 16 degrees, 10 % of all measurements in the loading space indicated temperatures of more than 25 degrees. This means that even at normal outside temperatures there are considerable deviations if actively temperature-controlled vehicles are not used. With an outside temperature of 23 degrees Celsius, peak temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius were measured in the vehicles, with an outside temperature of 30 degrees Celsius even more than 60 degrees Celsius. According to the findings of our study, the colour of a vehicle is not a decisive factor in how much a vehicle heats up. On average, the differences between white and anthracite coloured vehicles only made a difference of one or two degrees.

Further studies have shown that, in addition to the temperature inside the vehicles, the temperature in the warehouses also poses a high risk for the shipment of medicines. Without active control and countermeasures, the temperature in conventional distribution centres rises continuously throughout the day. Measurements show that the temperature peak is not reached at midday, but in the late afternoon – exactly at the time when customers’ shipments arrive. Once the heating process has started, the large mass of the buildings means that a rise in temperature, for example above the 25-degree limit of the room temperature range, cannot be prevented at short notice without active air conditioning. Cooling has to start early, usually in the morning. And to know exactly when and how much intervention is required, continuous measurement, documentation and evaluation of temperature logs is necessary.