DKSH Healthcare Establishes Industry Benchmark in Carbon Emissions Tracking in Thailand

PRNewswire
Bangkok [Thailand], August 20: DKSH Business Unit Healthcare has achieved a significant milestone by successfully measuring Scope 3 carbon emissions within its supply chain in Thailand. This initiative was accomplished through a collaboration with UOB FinLab's GreenTech Accelerator and Smart Tradzt, a Singapore-based sustainability technology provider.
DKSH Business Unit Healthcare has reached a significant milestone in building a more sustainable healthcare supply chain by successfully tracking carbon emissions across its value chain through a collaboration with UOB FinLab's GreenTech Accelerator and Smart Tradzt in Thailand. This achievement also marks the implementation of a reusable cold-chain packaging solution. The initiative underscores DKSH Healthcare's ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility and its proactive approach to advancing sustainable business practices.
Scope 3 emissions, representing indirect greenhouse gas emissions from sources across the value chain, constitute a substantial proportion of the total healthcare and logistics emissions. Accurately tracking these emissions is important but remains a complex task.
Recognizing this challenge, DKSH Business Unit Healthcare tapped on UOB FinLab's GreenTech Accelerator, a regional program which resulted in 16 successful pilots across Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand between corporations and innovative startups to address regional sustainability issues in the areas of energy, sustainability reporting and carbon management, circular economy and waste management, food and agriculture, sustainable cities and urban planning. UOB FinLab provided financial support, mentorship and access to community networks for Smart Tradzt, reducing costs for DKSH to undertake this comprehensive assessment.
The collaboration saw DKSH Healthcare Thailand partner with Smart Tradzt to utilize their digital platform for executing a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), providing a comprehensive view of the environmental impact of its operations and suggestions on sustainable processes optimizations. The analysis adhered to internationally recognized standards, including the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and PACT Methodology, covering all life cycle stages from material sourcing to manufacturing, distribution, product use, and disposal.
Despite facing operational challenges such as limited LCA awareness from small scale suppliers resulting in more limited data availability and limited visibility into end-user disposal practices, the LCA showed clear results - DKSH Healthcare's reusable cold-chain packaging solution, B-Box, demonstrated a significant reduction in carbon emissions over its lifecycle. Specifically, its reusable B-40 box recorded emissions of almost 27.19 kg CO₂e per box over five years, establishing a clear advantage over single-use Styrofoam alternative which recorded roughly 5.03 kg CO₂e per box.
Building upon these results, DKSH Business Unit Healthcare will be able to more effectively disclose the impact of avoided carbon emissions as it expands its reusable packaging to other markets. This increasing transparency across the value chain is a milestone benchmark for what can be explored across the region. Ultimately, sustainability tracking initiatives will assist clients and partners in addressing growing regulatory and stakeholder demands for accurate environmental reporting and sustainability accountability across value chains.
Bijay Singh, Global Head Business Unit Healthcare, DKSH, commented: "Our collaboration with Smart Tradzt and UOB FinLab details the importance we place on the topic of sustainability. Even as we continue to advance our goal of achieving equitable healthcare across Asia Pacific, we are committed to keeping our supply chain transparent and accountable. Scope 3 carbon emissions remain complex and require deep value chain collaboration. As healthcare partners, this initiative not only help us in meeting the growing regulations, they also let our clients and partners see tangible datapoints which can be used for their own reporting. Whilst challenging, this step is a showcase for our commitment to value chain transparency and sustainability."
Shannon Lung, Head of UOB FinLab, added: "At UOB FinLab, we are proud to serve as a community enabler, helping companies like DKSH Healthcare accelerate their sustainability journeys. Through our GreenTech Accelerator and other outreach programs, we connect corporates with innovative solutions that drive measurable impact. This collaboration is a testament to how targeted support and strategic partnerships can empower businesses to meet their sustainability goals, enhance operational transparency, and set new benchmarks for environmental accountability across ASEAN."
About UOB Finlab
Established in 2015, UOB FinLab is the strategic community enabler of UOB, dedicated to driving SME growth across ASEAN through AI, digitalisation and sustainability. With a regional presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, UOB FinLab has supported more than 33,000 SMEs across 48 countries, helping businesses to transform and thrive in the digital economy. Its signature programmes include the UOB SME Elevate Programme, AI Ready Programme, GreenTech Accelerator, Sustainability Innovation Programme, and Womenpreneur Digitalisation Programme, each designed to foster innovation, build capabilities, and promote inclusive growth. https://thefinlab.com/
About Smart Tradzt
Smart Tradzt specializes in carbon footprint and decarbonization, offering enterprise sustainability software and consulting to support carbon accounting, energy transition, and net zero pathways. Our PACT (by WBCSD) Conformant platform enables organizations to accurately quantify corporate (Scope 1, 2, and 3) and product carbon footprints, comply with ISSB Standards, and collaborate across value chains. Smart Tradzt's end-to-end Decarbonization Enablement facilitates a closed-loop process toward achieving a realistic net zero pathway. With Smart Tradzt's award-winning innovations in a future-ready Green Procurement Platform, we empower supply chain and Scope 3 decarbonization, as well as streamline Green Financing Enablement. Headquartered in Singapore and ISO 27001 Certified, we deliver industry-ready solutions powered by disruptive technologies such as AI. https://www.smarttradzt.com/

About DKSH
DKSH's purpose is to enrich people's lives. For 160 years, we have been marketing, selling, and distributing high-quality products and brands for multinational and Fortune 500 companies. Through our Business Units Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Performance Materials, and Technology, we deliver sustainable growth for our partners. We contribute to improving the quality of life for our employees and people in the local communities in which we operate. Headquartered in Switzerland, DKSH is publicly listed and operates in 36 markets across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. We employ over 28,000 specialists and produced net sales of CHF 11.1 billion in 2024. As a strategic healthcare business partner, DKSH Business Unit Healthcare distributes and commercializes pharmaceuticals, consumer health, and over-the-counter products as well as medical devices. With around 8,000 specialists, Business Unit Healthcare generated net sales of CHF 5.7 billion in 2024. www.dksh.com/hec
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