Santen Implemented Sustainable Supply Chain Roadmap
The company has launched a ten-point strategy to reduce operational emissions by pivoting to ocean freight.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Environmental
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Santen has implemented a supply-chain strategy titled The Green Path, which includes transitioning select shipments from air to ocean freight. The program aims to align the company with long-term climate targets through data-driven logistical shifts.
Why it matters
The company is recalibrating its logistics to balance patient access and operational resilience against rising regulatory pressure. These changes address value-chain emissions that are increasingly central to global operational compliance.
The pilot program achieved a 95% reduction in CO2 per shipment by switching transit modes. Santen uses shipment consolidation and inventory planning to maintain product availability while adjusting to the longer transit times inherent in ocean shipping.
The players
Santen
A pharmaceutical company specializing in ophthalmology that is currently integrating sustainability metrics into its global logistics stack.
Impact Stewards
A consultancy firm that supported the development of the sustainability roadmap.
The details
To manage the transition, Santen teams weigh carbon emissions alongside quality, service, resilience, and cost when selecting supply-chain routes. The Green Path program, developed with Impact Stewards, prioritizes ten specific areas of the supply chain to meet emission targets. By using consolidation and refined inventory planning, the company mitigates the impact of longer ocean transit times on final product delivery schedules.
Timeline
2019 served as the baseline year for all Scope 1, 2, and 3 emission reduction targets.
2030 is the deadline for achieving the 50% and 15% emission reduction milestones.
2050 is the goal year for achieving carbon-neutral operations.
The Tech Race
Santen has joined the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative to benchmark its performance against industry standards. This effort signals a move toward quantifying supply-chain carbon impact as a standard operational metric.
The shift toward ocean freight is designed to maintain product availability through more precise inventory planning and shipment consolidation. These adjustments allow the company to meet its environmental targets without disrupting the reliable delivery of medical supplies to global markets.
The takeaway
Santen is prioritizing data-backed logistics shifts to meet its 2030 emission milestones. Observers should track the company's future disclosures for updates on how the Green Path program expands beyond current pilot routes.
Further reading
For additional context on corporate sustainability transitions, visit our Environmental section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Consultancy.
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