Sustainability in Clinical Trial Logistics: Reducing Emissions and Waste Across Supply Chains
How CROs Can Build Greener, More Resilient Clinical Supply Chains Without Compromising Integrity
Sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern in clinical research. It is now a strategic priority driven by regulators, sponsors, investors, and the wider public. As clinical trials expand globally and rely increasingly on temperature-sensitive materials, the environmental footprint of logistics has come under sharper scrutiny.
For Contract Research Organisations (CROs), the challenge is clear: how to reduce emissions and waste across complex clinical trial supply chains without compromising reliability, compliance, or patient safety.
At Arca BioLogistics, we believe sustainability and performance are not opposing forces. When designed correctly, greener logistics strategies actively improve efficiency, reduce risk, and strengthen trial outcomes. This article explores the key sustainability challenges in clinical trial logistics and the practical strategies CROs can adopt — from reusable packaging and carbon offsetting to green route planning and digital optimisation.
Why Sustainability Matters in Clinical Trial Logistics
Clinical trial logistics is resource-intensive by nature. Frequent international shipments, specialist packaging, urgent timelines, and strict temperature control all contribute to a sizeable carbon footprint.
Increasingly, CROs face pressure from multiple directions:
Sponsors demanding ESG-aligned trial delivery
Regulators expecting environmental responsibility alongside GDP/GxP compliance
Investors assessing sustainability as part of risk management
Patients and sites favouring responsible research partners
Sustainability has become a measure of organisational maturity — and logistics is one of the most visible areas where improvement can be made.
The Hidden Environmental Cost of Traditional Clinical Logistics
Many legacy logistics models unintentionally create waste and emissions through:
Single-use temperature packaging
Emergency re-shipments caused by poor forecasting
Spoilage due to temperature excursions
Inefficient routing and repeated handovers
Over-stocking at trial sites
Fragmented systems that prevent optimisation
These inefficiencies not only increase emissions — they also inflate costs, consume time, and introduce compliance risk.
Sustainable logistics, therefore, is not just about “being green”; it is about eliminating inefficiency at its source.
1. Reusable Packaging: The Foundation of Sustainable Cold Chain Logistics
One of the most impactful sustainability strategies in clinical trial logistics is the shift from disposable to reusable packaging systems.
Why Single-Use Packaging Is a Problem
High material waste (foam, plastics, gels)
Increased landfill impact
Repeated manufacturing and disposal emissions
Inconsistent thermal performance
The Reusable Alternative
At Arca BioLogistics, we deploy validated, reusable packaging and loggers across all temperature ranges — ambient, refrigerated, frozen, and ultra-cold.
Key Benefits
Significant reduction in packaging waste
Lower long-term costs per shipment
Consistent thermal performance
Improved audit and validation records
Reduced need for emergency re-shipments
Reusable systems align sustainability with reliability, ensuring that environmental responsibility enhances — rather than threatens — clinical trial integrity.
2. Reducing Waste Through Better Temperature Control
Temperature excursions are one of the largest sources of waste in clinical trial logistics. When materials are compromised, the environmental cost goes far beyond the shipment itself — including wasted manufacturing effort, repeat transport, and lost time.
How Sustainability and Reliability Intersect
By preventing excursions, CROs can dramatically reduce both waste and emissions.
Best Practices
Continuous temperature monitoring using reusable smart loggers
Real-time alerts via platforms such as Arca Live™
Validated packaging matched precisely to transit duration and climate
Route validation to avoid high-risk lanes
Immediate intervention when deviations are detected
Every avoided excursion prevents the need for replacement manufacturing and transport — making temperature control a sustainability strategy in its own right.
3. Carbon Offsetting: Addressing Unavoidable Emissions
Even with optimised logistics, clinical trials will always require some level of international transport. This is where carbon offsetting becomes an important part of a balanced sustainability strategy.
How Carbon Offsetting Supports CROs
Offsets emissions from air, road, and last-mile transport
Supports ESG and sustainability reporting
Demonstrates environmental accountability to sponsors
Complements waste-reduction initiatives
Arca BioLogistics enables CROs to offset the carbon emissions of clinical shipments, providing transparency and measurable impact without adding operational complexity.
Carbon offsetting is not a replacement for efficiency — it is a necessary complement when emissions cannot be fully eliminated.
4. Green Route Planning: Smarter Paths, Lower Emissions
Route planning has traditionally focused on speed and cost. In sustainable logistics, environmental impact becomes a third critical factor.
What Is Green Route Planning?
Green route planning uses data and performance history to select routes that:
Minimise transit distance
Reduce dwell time and handovers
Avoid congestion hotspots
Lower the likelihood of delays and excursions
Balance emissions with reliability
The Sustainability Advantage
Optimised routes reduce:
Fuel consumption
Emergency re-routing
Shipment dwell time (a major excursion risk)
The need for additional packaging layers
By combining predictable transit performance with environmental optimisation, CROs can achieve consistency in both cost and carbon impact.
5. Inventory Optimisation: Cutting Waste at Trial Sites
Over-stocking is a common but often overlooked sustainability issue in clinical trials. Excess IMP or supplies stored at sites increase the risk of expiry, temperature deviation, and disposal.
How Better Forecasting Supports Sustainability
Fewer unused materials discarded
Reduced need for emergency re-supply
Lower storage energy consumption
Improved reconciliation at trial close
By integrating logistics data with inventory planning — supported by real-time tracking and forecasting — CROs can reduce material waste while improving trial efficiency.
6. Digital Platforms: Enabling Sustainable Decision-Making
Sustainability is difficult to manage without visibility. Fragmented systems make it almost impossible to measure or improve environmental performance.
The Role of Digital Logistics Platforms
Platforms like Arca Live™ enable CROs to:
Track shipments and temperature in real time
Identify inefficiencies across routes and regions
Reduce manual administration
Generate data for ESG and sustainability reporting
Minimise duplicated effort across teams
This visibility also supports time and efficiency, with clients seeing an average 84% reduction in pre-shipping process time compared to traditional logistics models.
Less admin. Fewer errors. Better sustainability outcomes.
7. Sustainability and Compliance Go Hand in Hand
Increasingly, sustainability intersects with compliance rather than sitting alongside it.
Reusable packaging:
Improves validation consistency
Reduces variability across shipments
Strengthens audit readiness
Real-time monitoring:
Enhances data integrity
Reduces reliance on manual reporting
Supports regulatory transparency
Efficient logistics:
Reduces delays that can lead to compliance issues
Minimises corrective actions and deviations
Sustainable logistics is not a trade-off — it is a multiplier of quality and control.
The CRO Opportunity: Turning Sustainability Into a Competitive Advantage
CROs that embed sustainability into their logistics strategies gain more than environmental benefits. They gain:
Stronger sponsor confidence
Improved operational resilience
Reduced waste and cost
Better audit outcomes
A more future-ready supply chain
As trials continue to globalise and scrutiny increases, sustainability will become a differentiator — not just a requirement.
Building Greener Clinical Trial Supply Chains Without Compromise
Sustainable clinical trial logistics is achievable — but only with the right strategy, systems, and partners.
By focusing on:
Reusable packaging
Carbon offsetting
Green route planning
Real-time visibility
Inventory optimisation
Digital efficiency
CROs can reduce emissions and waste while improving reliability, compliance, and productivity.
At Arca BioLogistics, sustainability is embedded into everything we do — not as an afterthought, but as a driver of better logistics.
If your organisation is looking to reduce environmental impact while strengthening trial delivery, now is the time to rethink your clinical logistics strategy with Arca BioLogistics.