AstraZeneca puts the environment first
AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company that protects the environment in all parts of its operations and has taken an active part in developing the course Drugs in the environment. We asked Helena Wadsten, Sustainability & ZeroCarbon Lead Södertälje, how our nation's pharmaceutical organisations can contribute to protecting our environment?
Helena Wadsten, Sustainability & ZeroCarbon Lead Södertälje, AstraZeneca
"Sustainability is a challenge for all of us, and it is necessary that both pharmaceutical manufacturers, healthcare providers and patients take responsibility. If customers and other stakeholders place uniform demands on pharmaceutical production, regardless of whether it takes place in Sweden or abroad, it creates additional incentives for the industry to optimize their operations from an environmental perspective. We all benefit from sustainable drug use and a functioning ecosystem."
Why did AstraZeneca choose to get involved in the course Drugs in the environment?
"We need talented, future employees and always strive to identify new talent. High-quality educations that provide comprehensive knowledge about pharmaceuticals and sustainability are increasingly important to us - not least to be able to weigh sustainability consequences in decision-making processes, and here Uppsala University is one of the universities we focus on the most in Sweden."
What long-term competence needs does AstraZeneca have regarding Drugs in the environment?
"AstraZeneca constantly needs new skilled pharmacists and knowledge of sustainability is central to our organisation. Our ambition is for AstraZeneca's operations to be climate neutral by 2025, which in turn requires employees with insight into environmental issues and how they connect to and access to our products."
What do you expect the course to generate in the long term?
"That it should give a new generation of pharmaceutical experts tools to contribute to sustainable research, manufacturing and use of pharmaceutical products - and of course that they should see AstraZeneca as a future employer with all the roles and opportunities they need to develop in their profession."
Facts AstraZeneca
- AstraZeneca is a biopharmaceutical company with 76,100 employees worldwide.
- AstraZeneca Sweden has 7,400 employees, 4,800 in Södertälje and 2,600 in Gothenburg.
- The company's site in Södertälje produces 30 different drugs for more than 100 markets.