The last decade has seen a marked increase in the number of governments and regulators requiring a greater and more stringent exchange of data to protect patient and consumer safety. Often this is achieved via 2D codes and serialisation – assigning an individualised or variable code to items so they can be uniquely identified, tracked, and traced throughout their lifetime.
Ransomware is not a new phenomenon, but the scale of attacks has accelerated both in sophistication and frequency. Ransomware incidents handled by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) increased from 326 in 2020 to 654 in 2021. Cybersecurity is a constant threat for businesses of all sizes, across all industries.
As bioplastic materials transition from being a ‘nice-to-have’ to materials with a very strong, viable business case, manufacturers are racing to keep up with demand. Brand-owners, striving to hit their decarbonisation targets by taking the initiative to transition to bioplastics, are generating a stronger brand-owner pull than ever before.
The pharmaceutical industry fared relatively well through the pandemic but the sector has recently hit rockier ground. A supply chain shortage has come to light, leaving many patients struggling to access pain relief, oncology medication, antihistamines, hormone replacement therapy, anticlotting agents and other important drugs.
The UK pharmaceutical sector continues to fall short on job applicants with recent data showing a 41% decline in people applying for vacancies between May 2022 and June 2022, threatening the UK’s status as a global pharmaceuticals leader. That’s according to the latest data from the network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.
The application of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential for dramatic improvements in patient healthcare. However, inaccurate AI-based predictions could just as easily lead to negative consequences.
Methane emissions from landfill are a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and many governments worldwide, including in the UK, and the EU, are committing to the introduction of mandatory household food waste collections in a bid to curb this.
Reliable logistics are crucial for ensuring robust, cost effective and efficient supply chains. Over the last two years, however, several factors have wrought havoc on chemical supply chains. But for the resilience and adaptability of the people employed in the industry, there might have been chaos.
There is a lot of talk about Critical Materials (or sometimes Minerals) – indeed the UK Government has just issued a strategy on the subject.1 The topic is not new, and there have been a number of reports on the topic over the last 20 years. As a chemist, I should probably start by correcting the use of language – we are mostly talking about elements here!
About 13% of global calories came out of production when Russian and Ukrainian borders shut down. The Russia-Ukraine war has put pressure on farmers globally to produce more crops to make up for a gap in supply left by the two countries. As prices of wheat, fuel and fertiliser rise, the total costs for farmers have been increasing.