Circular Logistics: A Strategic Advantage for U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chains in an Era of Uncertainty
Barbara Morgan, Regional President, Americas, Envirotainer
Pharmaceutical supply chains in the United States are under sustained pressure. Rising costs, inflation, shifting trade dynamics and ongoing global disruption are forcing companies to rethink how logistics is managed. At the same time, the products moving through these networks are becoming more valuable, more complex and increasingly temperature sensitive.
Introduction:
Temperature-related failures are estimated to cost the industry $20–35 billion annually, highlighting a non-negotiable requirement for reliability, product integrity and regulatory compliance. For manufacturers, this translates into a clear but difficult mandate: reduce costs and improve efficiency without increasing risk to product quality or supply continuity.
In this environment, temperature-controlled containers should increasingly be viewed as cold chain infrastructure rather than disposable packaging. Circular logistics – applying circular economy principles to supply chain operations by maximizing the reuse, refurbishment and redeployment of critical assets rather than relying on single-use materials – allows for this infrastructure approach to be implemented efficiently and effectively.
A New Set of Supply Chain Challenges
The global biologics market is poised to reach $650 billion by 2030 and nearly $1 trillion in the next decade. As of the most recent survey, 44.4% of biologics revenue is concentrated in North America, and biologics accounted for 37% of total drug spending in the United States. But all of this growth brings new challenges.
A cold chain excursion for a biologic has much more significant consequences than that of a small molecule. “A tablet stored at 30°C for an hour might lose some potency. A monoclonal antibody stored at 30°C for an hour may aggregate — forming protein clumps that trigger immune responses in patients.” With patient safety as well as much more financial investment at risk, pharma companies have to focus on creating stability, predictability as well as flexibility in the supply chain.
Other emerging challenges include:
- Trade policy – Trade policy costs aren’t limited to tariffs, but to policy uncertainty, export controls and shifting rules of origin. The evolution of origin rules and enforcement in 2025 was one of the most complex changes to navigate. Notably, steel and aluminum tariffs included long lists of “derivatives” tariffed at similar rates.
- U.S. Nearshoring – More manufacturing sites create more transportation lanes and handoffs opening the door for more risk.
- Geopolitical disruption – Transport lane closures and reduced capacity limit options to move products within required parameters.
Commenting on the recent KPMG U.S. Supply Chain Survey, KPMG’s principle of supply chain and operations noted that, “Today, building a resilient, agile, and digitally-enabled supply chain is a business imperative essential for survival and growth. Leaders are no longer only asking, ‘How can we make it cheaper?’ They’re asking, ‘How can we make it stronger, smarter, and safer?”
Resilience through Asset Circularity
Cheaper and smarter: Traditionally, packaging has been treated as a consumable: purchased, used once and disposed of. But that model carries hidden costs. Single-use solutions require procurement, storage, conditioning, assembly, and disposal. Each shipment adds operational steps that take time, warehouse capacity and resources.
Reusable temperature-controlled packaging replaces this model with a serviced-based approach, where qualified solutions are leased and delivered ready for use through an established service network, reducing cost and improving efficiency.
There are also additional efficiency gains for higher-volume shipments. Reusable multi-pallet solutions improve payload utilization and aircraft capacity, reducing the number of shipments required and lowering total logistics costs.
Stronger and safer: Temperature excursions continue to be one of the most significant threats to product integrity. A single deviation can lead to the loss of an entire shipment, trigger quality investigations or delay product availability for patients.
Many of these failures can be traced to inconsistency within the transportation process. Differences in packaging preparation, transport conditions and handling practices all introduce opportunities for error.
Reusable packaging is designed to reduce that variability. Through standardized processes, validated performance and controlled maintenance, they provide consistent protection from shipment to shipment.
That protection can be further strengthened by integrated monitoring technologies which provide real-time visibility throughout transit. This enables faster intervention if deviations occur and improved oversight across the supply chain.
Bonus: Predictable and flexible: Reusable packaging systems strengthen resilience by enabling more stable and repeatable logistics operations. Rather than relying on fragmented, one-way flows of packaging materials, companies operate within established global networks designed to ensure asset availability, repositioning and continuous reuse.
This reduces dependence on variable supply and helps ensure packaging is available when and where it is needed. It also allows organizations to respond more effectively to external pressures.
In the US market in particular, where operating conditions continue to evolve in line with policy cycles and regulatory changes, predictability and control are becoming essential to maintaining supply continuity.
Looking Ahead
The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is navigating a more complex and less predictable operating environment than ever before. Cost pressures, supply chain disruption and policy uncertainty are reshaping how companies approach logistics and distribution.
Meeting those demands will require companies to look beyond traditional approaches and challenge long-standing assumptions about how their supply chains are managed.
Temperature-controlled packaging is increasingly being recognized not as a transactional purchase, but as a strategic lever for improving cost efficiency, reducing risk and strengthening supply chain resilience for the future.
As packaging moves from a consumable to a delivered service capability, it is also prompting a broader shift in thinking about how pharmaceutical supply chains are structured.
Those that adapt will be better positioned to maintain control over cost, protect product integrity and sustain reliable supply performance, regardless of how market conditions evolve.
References:
- Biosimilar Supply Chain: How to Turn Its Biggest Weaknesses into Your Competitive Edge
- Biannual Supply Chain Report: Five Trends Shaping the Economic Landscape
- KPMG Survey: Risk Management and Resilience Emerge as Key Concern for Supply Chain Leaders
Barbara Morgan is the Regional President, Americas, at Envirotainer and has more than two decades of global leadership experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining Envirotainer, she served as Vice President and General Manager at Kerry, where she led the global Pharma and Biopharma business through a period of significant growth and portfolio expansion. She also held senior leadership roles at Lubrizol, including General Manager of the Pharmaceutical CDMO business. Her career spans mergers and acquisitions (M&A), marketing, sales and venture capital, with a consistent focus on the life sciences sector.
