In the News

As Australia’s journey to reaching net-zero carbon accelerates, healthcare and logistics are in the spotlight. To align with the Paris Agreement, leading healthcare companies are embracing innovation to create better patient outcomes and decarbonise amid increased regulatory pressure to adhere to Australia’s commitment of a 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.

“Its status as one of Australia’s top employers and contributors to GDP means the healthcare industry’s emissions will only continue to grow unless companies take action,” says Joe Taylor, chief executive of Australian-owned and operated healthcare logistics company Smartways.

Estimates suggest that most of the healthcare sector’s carbon emissions come from broader supply chains.

“At Smartways, sustainability is core to our business strategies, and we have successfully integrated environmental policies into our business model,” Taylor says. “Our numerous sustainability initiatives are not ‘opt-in’, and as such we offset 100 per cent of our customers’ last-mile patient-centric deliveries.″⁣

Logistics plays a key role in healthcare organisations’ Scope 3 emissions – those that are outside their direct control but embedded in supply chains. Estimates suggest that most of the sector’s emissions – 70 per cent, in the case of the US – come from broader supply chains.

Driven by stringent emissions regulations and increasing customer expectations, the logistics sector is under pressure to adopt sustainable progress, but improvements have been slow. Even as vehicle efficiencies have rapidly improved, road freight transport emissions have increased by 20 per cent since 1995.

While the local health system is estimated to be responsible for around 5 per cent of Australia’s total carbon emissions, this compares favourably to countries such as the US (where healthcare is an estimated 8-9.8 per cent of total national emissions) but is nonetheless trending above the global estimated total of 4.5 per cent.

In a sign that regulatory pressure will continue to grow, earlier this year the federal government announced that Australia was joining the US and UK in a public statement of collaboration to decarbonise healthcare supply chains. Green procurement, reduction targets and carbon emission disclosures are on the agenda. Smartways has been operating as a fully carbon-neutral enterprise for more than four years, in alignment with the company’s mission to improve patient outcomes, and its unwavering commitment to making an enduring impact on the broader community.

“Smartways is the first, and only, dedicated healthcare logistics company to provide sustainable, carbon-neutral freight services within Australia and New Zealand,” Taylor says.

The company is Australasia’s largest dedicated healthcare logistics network, with more than 300 drivers and 35 strategically located hubs.

A key component of the group’s offering is its pioneering SmartCubes, which are innovative, temperature-controlled packaging solutions for healthcare clients. The reusable thermal packing connects to high-tech temperature-logging and tracking systems, to ensure safe and reliable transportation and eliminate the need for Styrofoam and single-use packaging.

“Time and temperature sensitivity are pivotal to Smartways’ extensive service capabilities. The company offers smart, temperature-controlled packaging solutions to ensure product integrity throughout the entire supply chain.”

For each shipment made across its extensive network, Smartways offsets its carbon position through national and global projects registered with Climate Active, an Australian government environmental quality program.

Its sustainability initiative supports multiple projects in NSW and Queensland, such as the Paroo River South Environmental Project and the Clovelly Regeneration Project, which prioritise assisted regeneration of vegetation. Internationally, Smartways has invested in Vietnam’s Khe Bo hydro power project.

All are examples of the kinds of collaborations that researchers from professional services firm Deloitte note will be crucial for the healthcare sector to reach net zero.

“Sustainability and ESG leaders have already shown an appetite for taking a cross-firm, ecosystem-wide approach, by partnering to identify solutions to population-level health issues,” a Deloitte report notes.

“As more and more firms prioritise sustainability and climate action, and make public commitments around their efforts, this type of collaboration will encourage even more information sharing and learning across the sector.”

The technological innovation and pioneering care models being developed across the healthcare industry can also help deliver co-benefits for sustainability, the Deloitte researchers say.

“Healthcare leaders should be actively considering climate resiliency as an enterprise-wide strategy. This analysis will likely require a comprehensive look at the risks throughout the value chain, but can equip organisations to prepare for, and respond to, risks as they emerge.”

Not only are Smartways’ transport services carbon neutral, but the carbon footprints of its daily business activities, from electricity, water and waste to travel and accommodation and even office supplies, are all offset. The result, Taylor notes, is a truly carbon-neutral company.

“While other logistics providers in our sector have environmental targets and goals, Smartways is delivering sustainability now,″⁣ he says.

“By absorbing all associated carbon neutrality costs, at no expense to the customer, and their supply chain, Smartways eliminates the decision between sustainability and affordability.”