AstraZeneca Partners With Massachusetts Company For Renewable Natural Gas

WALTHAM, MA — In what the two companies are calling a "first-of-its-kind collaboration," AstraZeneca has partnered with Waltham-based Vanguard Renewables to deliver renewable natural gas (RNG) to all of its U.S. sites by the end of 2026.

AstraZeneca began purchasing RNG from Vanguard this month. By 2026, the collaboration is set to produce energy that's equivalent to the energy required to heat more than 17,800 U.S. homes for a year, officials said.

This comes at a time when some medical companies are reckoning with the idea that the energy needed to produce their products is perhaps working against their company values of sustainability.

"We recognize the interconnection between the health of people and the planet, and are committed to driving deep decarbonization across our operations and value chain," said AstraZeneca Executive Vice President of Global Operations and IT and Chief Sustainability Officer Pam Cheng.

"Our innovative partnership with Vanguard Renewables in the U.S. is an illustration of how we are collaborating at scale to deliver sustainable science and medicines, as part of the transition to net zero health systems and a circular economy."

According to AstraZeneca officials, heat and power are critical to manufacturing medicines. The decarbonization of healthcare requires access to clean sources of heat, such as renewable natural gas, they added.

Thus, the new Vanguard partnership marks a big milestone for the company in its quest to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Using RNG will keep the company on track to reduce those emissions by 98 percent by 2026, officials said.

Through the partnership with Vanguard, AstraZeneca will access RNG from three on-farm anaerobic digester facilities across the U.S. for the next 15 years or more, a news release said.

Vanguard CEO Neil Smith said he hopes that AstraZeneca's step toward net zero emissions through RNG will be a signal to other companies to try and match the goal.

"AstraZeneca has set a very ambitious and challenging net zero target, which is a benchmark for their sector and other global corporations," said Smith.

"We strongly believe this partnership will provide a path for other like-minded companies to join us on the journey towards global decarbonization."