NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / July 17, 2025 / "Sustainability for sustainability's sake doesn't often work. We have found a lot of ways to connect it to the business and business value."
This is one of the many insights shared by Jeffrey Whitford, Vice President of Sustainability & Social Business Innovation at MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, at Sustainability LIVE Chicago 2025. Jeffrey took center stage at this event-a premier gathering of C-suite-, vice president- and director-level sustainability and ESG leaders-for an inspiring Fireside Chat titled, "Sustainability Driving Global Innovation."
In a thought-provoking conversation, Jeffrey explored how sustainability can serve as a powerful catalyst for innovation-fueling creativity, unlocking business value and generating meaningful societal impact. He also emphasized MilliporeSigma's commitment to embedding sustainability across its entire value chain-rather than isolating it in a silo. This ecosystem approach helps integrate sustainability throughout the product lifecycle, from design to end-of-life, positioning it as a strategic imperative.
Other key highlights from the session include:
How everyday creativity can inspire sustainability innovation. Jeffrey shared how a simple QR code scan on a coffee cup-showing nutrition and allergen information-prompted him to rethink transparency for MilliporeSigma's products. The result: developing a way for the company's 2D barcodes on its 300,000+ diverse products to enable customers to access sustainability data like Product Carbon Footprinting-covering greenhouse gas impact of a product cradle-to-gate.
The importance of leadership-driven cultural alignment. By encouraging innovation and cross-functional connection, MilliporeSigma is cultivating a culture that sees environmental and social challenges not as roadblocks-but as opportunities for transformation and shared progress.
The impact of cross-industry collaboration in driving sustainability impact and future innovation. For example, Jeffrey spotlighted MilliporeSigma's expanded partnership with Beyond Benign, a green chemistry education nonprofit. Together, they are driving systematic change in chemistry education by offering open access to online green chemistry resources and training and involving several higher education institutions around the world to make green chemistry an integral part of chemistry education. These efforts help better prepare next generation scientists with skills to address sustainability through chemistry. Beyond education, Jeffrey also discussed how MilliporeSigma is enabling sustainability across its ecosystem by offering a first-of-its-kind customer sustainability dashboard that guides more responsible decisions and by creating supplier toolkits that offer actionable steps for reducing environmental impact.
Watch Jeffrey's full Fireside Chat on YouTube to hear more insights firsthand.
To explore the many initiatives MilliporeSigma is driving to bolster global sustainability innovation, visit the company's Sustainability and Social Business Innovation webpage.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from MilliporeSigma on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: MilliporeSigma
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/milliporesigma
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: MilliporeSigma
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/healthcare-and-pharmaceutical/sustainability-driving-global-innovation-highlights-from-milliporesig-1049782
