Santen Implemented Sustainable Supply Chain Roadmap
The company launched a plan to reach carbon neutrality through reduced emissions and shifted freight logistics.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Environmental
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Santen has introduced The Green Path, a new supply-chain roadmap designed to reduce its environmental footprint. The strategy targets significant emission cuts across all scopes by 2030, building on a 2019 baseline.
Why it matters
The company aims to enhance operational efficiency and build resilience against rising regulatory requirements. By prioritizing carbon impact alongside traditional metrics, Santen seeks to ensure long-term patient access to its products.
The firm identified 10 priority supply chain areas to meet its 2050 carbon-neutral goal. As part of a pilot, switching shipments between Korea and Europe from air to ocean freight yielded a 95% reduction in CO2 emissions per shipment.
The players
Santen
This Japan-based pharmaceutical company specializes in ophthalmology and eye care products.
Impact Stewards
This advisory organization provided support during the development of The Green Path program.
The details
Teams now balance carbon impacts with quality, cost, and resilience when making logistics decisions. The company maintains product availability during the longer transit times associated with sea freight through advanced inventory planning and shipment consolidation.
Timeline
2019: The baseline year for measuring company-wide emission reduction targets.
2030: The deadline for meeting the 50% and 15% emission reduction milestones.
2050: The target year for achieving full carbon-neutral operations.
The Big Picture
Santen joined the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative to benchmark its sustainability maturity. This effort follows the framework set by the initiative to ensure companies align internal operations with global environmental standards.
The shift toward sea freight and consolidated inventory could influence future lead times and the reliability of product availability for international customers. Long-term, these measures represent a broader effort to mitigate the carbon footprint associated with medical distribution.
The takeaway
Companies are increasingly integrating carbon metrics into their core supply-chain decision-making processes. This transition suggests that operational success is now being redefined to include environmental impact alongside traditional cost and service levels.
Further reading
Learn more about corporate sustainability efforts in the Environmental section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Consultancy.
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