Integration of Process Modeling and LCA for the Assesment of the Environmental Impact of Pharmaceutical Industries: Case Study

Shaimaa Ragab () and Amna Ramzy ()
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Shaimaa Ragab: German International University
Amna Ramzy: German University in Cairo

A chapter in Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics, 2025, pp 125-139 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is utilized to evaluate the environmental, economic, and social impacts of a product or process across all stages of its life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal. The carbon footprint, a measure of the total carbon dioxide emissions directly and indirectly caused by an activity or accumulated over a product’s life stages, is a key component of this assessment. This study aims to demonstrate the application of LCA in an Egyptian pharmaceutical factory producing oral liquid drugs. Initially, Material and Energy Flow Analysis (MEFA) was conducted using Umberto Efficiency + before establishing the inventory for LCA using Umberto LCA + . The assessment followed ISO 14040/14044 standards, with a cradle-to-gate system boundary that considered raw material transportation, energy use, waste handling, and carbon footprint estimation. Results show that 78.25 kg CO2-Eq is generated to produce 3,597.21 kg of oral liquid drug. Syrup production contributes over 85% to terrestrial ecotoxicity and climate change, with more than 25% impact on fossil depletion. This study highlights a significant advantage by being based on actual values from a real case study within a pharmaceutical factory. Gaining access to such data is particularly valuable, given the stringent regulations that make it difficult to obtain information from pharmaceutical factories. As such, this research fills a critical gap by applying LCA to non-sterilized liquid drugs, an area that has been largely unexplored. Moreover, LCA modeling links technology with sustainability, leveraging computer science to assess and enhance the environmental sustainability of complex systems.

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment; Liquid drug; Carbon footprint; Umberto software (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-85284-8_8

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