Glossary: The Language of Sustainable Bioprocessing
A comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide for pharmaceutical and bioprocessing teams
Sustainability has become a defining priority for pharmaceutical manufacturers. But the terminology, Scope 3, mass balance, UCO, LCAs, EcoVadis scoring, can feel unfamiliar to teams focused on manufacturing reliability, quality, engineering, or procurement.
This glossary breaks down the essential concepts shaping sustainable bioprocessing today. It’s designed to help anyone, from process engineers to sourcing managers to ESG leads, speak confidently about the frameworks guiding modern materials, supply chains, and sustainability strategies.
Carbon & Emissions Terminology
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
The global standard for measuring and reporting greenhouse g as emissions. Defines Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and sets the rules companies use to build carbon inventories.
Scope 1 Emissions
Direct emissions from sources a company owns or controls (e.g., boilers, generators, company vehicles).
Scope 2 Emissions
Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam.
Scope 3 Emissions
All other indirect emissions in a company’s value chain, often 80–90% of pharma’s total footprint.Includes purchased materials, capital equipment, transportation, waste, and end-of-life.
ecobio™ primarily supports Scope 3, Category 1: Purchased Goods & Services.
Carbon Footprint
Total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product or activity, expressed in kg CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent).
CO₂e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent)
A standardized way to compare the impact of different greenhouse gases using carbon dioxide as the reference.
Decarbonization
Actions taken to reduce emissions across operations and supply chains.
Feedstocks, Materials & Chain-of-Custody
Used Cooking Oil (UCO)
A renewable waste feedstock collected from foodservice and industrial frying operations.
When hydrotreating UCO, one output is bio-naphtha, which becomes a renewable feedstock for mass-balance polymer manufacturing.
Bio-Naphtha
A renewable hydrocarbon derived from UCO, tall oil, or plant oils.
Chemically identical to fossil naphtha and used to produce ethylene, propylene, and other building blocks for polymer resins.
Mass Balance
A traceability and allocation method that allows renewable feedstocks (like UCO-derived bio-naphtha) to be introduced into existing chemical production streams. The renewable share is measured, tracked, third-party verified, and attributed to final products, even though fossil and renewable inputs are processed together.
ISCC PLUS Certification
The leading global certification verifying:
- Responsible sourcing of renewable or circular feedstocks
- Accurate mass-balance accounting
- Full chain-of-custody traceability
- Compliance with sustainability claim guidelines
ISCC PLUS is the primary certification used for mass-balance polymers in high-purity applications.
Bio-Based Materials
Materials made from 100% renewable feedstocks in physically separate production systems.
Not widely used in pharmaceutical single-use systems due to performance, supply, and validation limitations.
Circular Feedstocks
Recycled hydrocarbons (e.g., pyrolysis oil from plastic waste) that reenter polymer production through mass balance.
Chain of Custody
Documentation tracing material origin and ownership from feedstock through resin production to finished product conversion.
Sustainability Reporting & Industry Frameworks
EcoVadis
A global sustainability rating system used by over 130,000 companies and nearly all major pharma manufacturers.
Scores suppliers in four categories:
- Environment
- Labor & Human Rights
- Ethics
- Sustainable Procurement
A strong EcoVadis score improves competitiveness in supplier evaluations.
SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative)
Validates corporate climate targets to ensure they align with science-based pathways (e.g., 1.5°C). Pharma companies with SBTi commitments often require suppliers to demonstrate Scope 3 progress.
LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)
A comprehensive analysis of a product’s environmental impact from raw material extraction through manufacturing and end-of-life. ecobio™ will use cradle-to-gate LCAs to quantify attributed carbon reductions.
CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)
An EU regulation requiring detailed sustainability disclosures. Impacts many U.S. suppliers selling into EU-based pharmaceutical companies.
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)
A broad framework for assessing sustainability and ethical practices. Mass-balance materials primarily support the Environmental pillar.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)
Global platform where companies disclose emissions, water use, and climate risks to investors and customers.
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
A commonly used framework for structuring sustainability disclosures.
TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures)
Guidelines for reporting climate risk and financial exposure to investors. Increasingly used in pharma ESG reporting.
Procurement & Supply Chain Sustainability
Supplier Scorecard
A tool used by procurement to evaluate suppliers across quality, delivery, cost, and sustainability metrics. Mass-balance materials improve the “Environment” and “Sustainable Procurement” dimensions.
Preferred Supplier Status
Designation given to top-performing suppliers.
Often leads to better contract terms, long-term agreements, or early access to new bids.
Sustainable Procurement
Purchasing strategies that weigh environmental impact alongside quality and cost.
Supplier-Specific Emission Factors
Actual emissions data provided by suppliers — such as cradle-to-gate carbon footprints for specific polymer grades — that replace generic “spend-based” emission estimates.
Mass-balance materials support this shift by providing verified, supplier-specific resin data through ISCC PLUS certification and LCA datasets.
Value Chain Collaboration
Joint sustainability programs between manufacturers and suppliers to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
End-of-Life & Waste Concepts
Incineration (Energy Recovery)
The primary end-of-life pathway for single-use systems.
Does not affect mass-balance attribution, which happens upstream at resin production.
Mechanical Recycling
Grinding/melting plastics into new materials.
Generally not feasible for bioprocessing waste due to contamination and material mixtures.
Chemical Recycling (Pyrolysis)
Breaks plastics back into hydrocarbons that can reenter polymer production through mass balance.
Circularity
Designing materials, systems, or processes to keep resources in use for as long as possible.