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Advancing more sustainable packaging and transport
Packaging plays a critical role in protecting product quality throughout its journey. We are working to reduce the environmental impact associated with our packaging and transportation activities while maintaining the product protection and performance our customers expect.
Reducing packaging material use
Through product innovation and shipment consolidation, we can help reduce packaging material use and transportation impacts while maintaining product protection.
Go ambient
Our ambient shipping initiatives reduce the need for refrigerated transport, helping reduce energy use, transportation-related emissions, and packaging weight. One example is our over 230,000 Invitrogen antibodies that are now shipped at ambient temperature in recyclable paperboard boxes and padded recyclable paper envelopes without affecting product quality or stability – eliminating the need for gel ice packs and coolers.
Shipment consolidation
Thermo Fisher Scientific's Supply Center helps streamline ordering and procurement by providing access to a broad range of lab products and consumables through a single source. Consolidating purchases can help reduce the number of shipments, resulting in less packaging waste and improved transportation efficiency. Users can also identify products with the ACT Ecolabel or other eligible third-party ecolabels by looking for the green leaf symbol.
Supporting reusability
As part of our efforts to support circularity, we offer returnable packaging solutions for selected products and services. Reusing packaging materials across multiple shipments can help reduce waste, extend material life, and improve resource efficiency compared with single-use alternatives.
Associated with clinical trial services, we can provide the Crēdo Cube™1 shipper as an alternative to expanded polystyrene coolers.
1. Crēdo Cube is a trademark of Peli BioThermal LLC.
Through our custom & bulk chemical services, choose the product specifications and quantities that work best for your operation and that can help reduce product and packaging waste, including options for returnable containers and drums.
Available in the United States, the Fisher Scientific Reusable Tote Program helps reduce packaging waste by replacing eligible single-use shipping containers with reusable totes that are returned and reused across multiple deliveries.
Supporting recyclability
We are working to improve the recyclability of our packaging through material selection and packaging design. This includes reducing the use of hard-to-recycle materials, increasing the use of paper-based alternatives where feasible, and implementing packaging solutions that can simplify recycling and disposal.
Reducing hard-to-recycle plastics
We are transitioning selected packaging applications from hard-to-recycle plastics to more recyclable alternatives. Beginning in 2024, we launched a global initiative to replace polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene in selected secondary and tertiary packaging.
Expanding paper-based packaging solutions
Our recyclable paper cooler is designed to meet the thermal performance requirements needed to protect product quality while reducing reliance on expanded polystyrene (EPS) coolers. Every 10,000 paper coolers shipped keeps more than 6,500 cubic feet of EPS from landfills.
Right-sizing
We are working to reduce packaging volume and material use while maintaining the product protection and performance our customers expect. By optimizing packaging design and minimizing empty space, we can reduce material consumption and improve transportation efficiency.
Packaging redesign can help reduce the amount of material needed to protect products during shipment and storage. For example, Thermo Scientific Dionex ion chromatography columns and Thermo Scientific high-performance liquid chromatography columns were redesigned to reduce primary packaging material by up to 52% while maintaining product protection.
Responsible material sourcing
We are incorporating packaging materials that include third-party certifications and recycled content where feasible.
The packaging for Thermo Scientific Dionex ion chromatography columns and Thermo Scientific high-performance liquid chromatography columns includes Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paperboard and polyethylene foam containing a minimum of 60% pre-consumer recycled-content material.
The packaging for Thermo Scientific Nalgene Wide-Mouth Lab Quality HDPE Bottles contains 90% recycled-content material.
Lower emission transport
Lower emission transport
We are exploring opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of transporting our products while maintaining the quality, reliability, and speed our customers expect.
Supporting lower-emission air transportation
We work with logistics providers to support the use of lower-emission transportation solutions, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for select air shipments. These efforts help reduce transportation-related emissions while maintaining shipping performance, product quality, and chain-of-custody requirements.
Advancing lower-emission ground transportation
We are also incorporating lower-emission vehicle technologies into portions of our transportation network where feasible. This includes the use of battery electric vehicles within select distribution operations to help reduce transportation-related emissions.
