Novo’s Multi-Pronged Approach to Sustainability in Healthcare Starts with Setting Targets

Liz Cuneo: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Um, before we begin, why don’t you share your full name, title, what you do at Novo? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yeah, I’m pleased to do so. So, my name is Dorothe Nielsen. I am, uh, heading up, uh, the unit called Corporate Environment Strategy. So we are overall responsible for the environmental footprint here at Novo Nordisk, and that includes everything on environment nature, climate, and so on, responsible for the strategy, setting the targets but also, hopefully reaching the targets. 

Liz Cuneo: Sure. Um, and you know, as, as we both know, sustainability and healthcare is a complicated issue. Um, what do you see as the biggest obstacle that the industry faces? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yeah, it is a, a complicated, uh, issue and, um, for, for for many different reasons. But the one that I want to highlight is, uh, uh, because of the, the supply chain, and value chain in, in, in social, you can say, but, uh, especially for, for the supply chain. Novo Nordisk is a global company. Uh, we do have production facilities globally and we also deliver our, our products, our medicines, uh, globally. So, we are in many countries. Um, so of course you can say both in terms of production, getting all the raw materials, uh, into our production sites, but also delivering our products worldwide is, uh, is, is complex. Um, and that the kind of global challenge of course also comes with the, in an environmental footprint. Uh, that is in terms of the, the raw material material we use, um, the products that we, um, uh, that we distribute to our patients. And also, you can say the the whole kind of value chain, uh, of it all the, the different, uh, stakeholders that we work with. Of course all of them have also contribute to the environmental sustainability. 

Liz Cuneo: Sure. Um, so then, you know, in that vein of value chain and supply chain, what are some of the solutions, um, that you think the industry can or should adopt? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Um, many but one of them I want to highlight, uh, where we have put special focus on is a circular economy. So we have, uh, we have, uh, a target, uh, or our, or environmental sustainability strategy is called circular for zero. Uh, the zero is about having zero environmental impact, uh, in the future. And the circular part goes really for that. We believe circular economy could be, uh, one of, uh, of the solutions to, to the issues, uh, that we have. Um, so if, if we can implement the circular economy, and, um, for us, circular economy is about, uh, reducing, uh, use of material. So if you use less, of course, then you, your environmental footprint is, um, is lower. Uh, it’s also ensuring that the products we put on the markets, uh, are designed with circularity in, in mind. Um, and then the last part is, uh, about turning waste, uh, into new products. Um, so I think circularity is kind of the key enabler to reaching a zero. 

Cuneo: Sure. Um, and then speaking of taking, you know, raw material or used materials and turning ’em into something else, can you share details on the takeback program that you guys have for injector pens in Denmark? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yes, some years ago, uh, I think it was back in 2020, we, uh, we started up a pilot, uh, where we, it was possible for our pin users, our patients, to deliver back their used pin after, it’s, it’s empty. So where we, we, we created a, a system where they delivered back the used pin at the pharmacy, uh, when they were, uh, at the pharmacy to pick up new, new, new products. Then they could deliver back, uh, the old product. Um, and then we developed a system where the pharmacy then made sure to distribute the, the used pen back to, uh, waste handling company that actually handles the pens. So in essence, what happens is that they, they crush it because it’s, it’s glued so, so nicely together, so, uh, that the patients cannot, uh, you know, open it or anything. 

Dorothe Nielsen: Um, and then they crush it, and then they separate the different fractions, uh, into, uh, clear, clear, clean, uh, fractions, uh, with the, the purpose of, uh, using that again. So it’s an end-to-end solution from, from patients, but also that we take care of the waste afterwards, uh, uh, with, with the goal to, uh, to make sure that we can use that for, for the purposes, uh, ultimately in our own products. But, uh, but as you know, uh, we do have a quite strict, um, quality requirements for, for, for products. So, so right now that is not possible, but we, we, we hope that, uh, that will be possible in the future. 

Liz Cuneo: Yeah. And I know, um, that there’s, it’s in multiple countries, not just Denmark, it, have you guys seen a good success rate with that? 

Dorothe Nielsen: So in Denmark, we are, I think we are above 30% return rate, which, uh, of course difficult to compare, but I really do think that this is a success, uh, because you really need to, uh, nudge, you can say, people to do something differently and, and we know change in habits, uh, sometimes can be difficult. So, uh, so 30% in Denmark, uh, that is also our hallmark. Um, so maybe we also have an advantage, uh, there. Sure. In other markets, we do, we do not see the same, uh, uptick, uh, right now. But, um, hopefully when we will go into more industry solutions might, meaning going together with other companies, we will see an increase in, uh, in, in volumes. Uh, but right now, uh, Denmark is definitely the place, uh, where we see, uh, the highest return rates. 

Liz Cuneo: That’s great. Um, it’s always that, to me, that seems like an exciting program, a return program for any of our healthcare, you know, bottles, uh, caps, pens. Do you think the TAKEBACK program is the future of sustainability in healthcare? Or maybe it’s just one, one piece of a bigger puzzle? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Um, it’s, it’s one part of the puzzle, but of course an important, important one. I think that companies need to take responsibility for the products all the way through the patients. Uh, that has not always been been the case. So if you want to do that, then of course, take back is, uh, is uh, is a key element, uh, in, um, in, in, in that. Uh, but there are other things that you, of course, uh, also should do. Uh, you could, um, maybe develop, products that, uh, that are reusable. So, uh, instead of having a pen that only can be used until it’s empty, then we also have another solution where it’s reusable, where you simply, um, shift the cartridge that is inside the pen, um, and then you can use it multiple times. Um, so, so there are other options also to make sure that, you, we do not introduce so much waste, you can say in the whole system. 

Liz Cuneo: Sure. Um, so then talking about developing devices in, in packaging, how do you factor sustainability in when you also have to factor in patient adherence and usability? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yeah. Um, as, as you say this is the key parameters of course, uh, in, in, in terms of us being a, a patient-centered company, that that’s, uh, the adherence and the usability, uh, that comes first. Um, but what we also do is to implement kind of circular principles in designing our, our packages. Uh, so that is, for instance the use of materials. Uh, so using, maybe only one or two types of, uh, materials, making sure that the materials we use are not, uh, for instance, based on fossil fuels mm-hmm . Uh, making sure that it’s it’s as, as simple as possible and also designed for you could say longer use. 

Liz Cuneo:  Sure. Um, so I see that scope three emissions, that’s something that you’ve been talking about. Can you share what that is and why it’s important? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yeah. So scope three is scope is, uh, CO2 emissions, uh, that are in, uh, in your supply chain, or that is without your direct control. So we have scope one and two. Uh, scope one is that you’re in your direct control. Scope two is when you buy any energy, uh, and emission occurred from buying that energy. And then scope three is, uh, everything, uh, else you can see, so the CO2 emissions that are, are part of, if you buy raw material that you want to use in your production, then there are some emissions, uh, related to to to that, uh, and novo nordisk. We have, um, had our climate target for many years. So we are actually quite good at, um, at minimizing our scope one and two, uh, emissions. Uh, so that also means that, uh, um, 96% of our emissions, um, actually are in scope three. 

Dorothe Nielsen: Um, that’s a challenge because that’s not something that is in our direct control mm-hmm. It is really up to suppliers to, uh, to minimize, um, uh, minimize their CO2 emissions. Um, and we recently set, uh, or we have a net zero target in 2045, meaning that we want to be net zero on, on climate in, uh, in, in 2045. Uh, we have recently set an an midterm target because you also want to show progress that in 2033, we have a 33% reduction compared to a baseline in 2024. Uh, and of course you can say maybe, uh, you know, 23%, uh, is, is something, but given the growth that we have, then suddenly that actually becomes, uh, quite an ambitious target for us at the moment. And here we rely a lot on our suppliers. That they can join us on that journey. Of course. 

Liz Cuneo: Yeah. That was gonna be my next question of, you know, how do you address scope three emissions? So is it maybe it’s choosing the right suppliers, um, that, you know, have similar sustainability goals or, you know, doing your due diligence in finding a supplier that is producing less CO2. So I guess, you know, how, how is Novo addressing this or how can the industry address it? 

Dorothe Nielsen: Yeah. Um, but it’s multiple factors that you, that you need to do depending also on your relationship with your suppliers. Uh, we have suppliers, uh, of course that, that, uh, where we have had long-term relationships and, uh, where it’s more like partners. Uh, and here we it’s more like a collaboration around how, how can they minimize their CO2 footprint. And the best thing, uh, they can do, um, as a first step is to use renewable energy in their production. Uh, we have done the same, uh, in, on, on our production sites. Uh, so we do have a long, uh, kind of, uh, experience and knowledge around how can you do that in different markets. So essentially sharing our, our journey in, in that and sharing our learnings, uh, is, is something that we can yeah, utilize together with the, with, with the suppliers, but also you can say as you, uh, picking or, or choosing suppliers, um, that might have a lower impact. Um, and, and, and that goes for what we call the indirect expense. So not, not the, not the, the raw materials that goes directly into production, but for instance, now I’m sitting at a table here, so we also buy tables, chairs, and so on. Uh, and some of the things that are not so critical, then you can really choose suppliers that either have an SC target themself or have a lower SC two footprint than, than others. 

Liz Cuneo: Okay. Yeah, that’s interesting. Moving beyond just, you know, manufacturing, but just in what you have in the office and the resources you use. So that’s great. Well, thank you. Go ahead. Okay. 

Dorothe Nielsen: And, and then of course that, that is the balance that we need to have both working on what goes in production, but also all the other things that, uh, that we need in order for us to run a company that is still our responsibility, 

Liz Cuneo: Take a larger, larger scope. So that’s great. Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you for your time today. 

Dorothe Nielsen: You are welcome. Thanks a lot. Nice meeting you.