Sustainable sourcing runs across the pillars of the PSCI Principles and enables companies to build responsible supply chains. In that spirit, PSCI members have been working over the last year to produce an approach that sets the foundations of sustainable sourcing and is consistent with the PSCI Maturity Models. This work focused on two raw materials of importance to the pharmaceutical supply chain: lactose and palm oil. Each with its own challenges, these two raw materials were selected to test the approach developed, and will be the first of more to come.

The PSCI sustainable sourcing supplier pathways offer a best practice approach for members and suppliers, with guidance and tools to aid the implementation. By providing this common best practice approach, the PSCI aims to improve the industry’s collective progress towards a more sustainable supply chain and address key issues for both commodities:

• For lactose - Carbon emissions, water use and pollution, animal welfare, labour rights, biodiversity impacts from feed growing, and traceability and governance
• For palm oil - Land use change, Biodiversity loss, and Human & labor rights

The documents were produced by a third party under the direction of a PSCI expert Topic Team and were based on a series of interviews with key stakeholders, as well as a review of the literature available and sustainability reporting frameworks covering the raw materials selected.