How Heavy Is the Footprint? Comparing Wegovy’s Carbon Impact to Other Medications

Pharmaceuticals don’t just affect people—they leave a mark on the planet, too. From sourcing and manufacturing to packaging and global shipping, every step of a medication’s life cycle carries a carbon cost.

With Wegovy rising in popularity as a long-term treatment for weight loss, it’s a good time to look at what that success means in environmental terms. How does Wegovy’s carbon footprint compare to similar medications? What are the biggest contributors? And more importantly, what’s being done to reduce its impact?

Where the Emissions Come From: A Quick Breakdown

Carbon footprints in the pharmaceutical world aren’t always easy to measure, but they usually stem from a few main areas:

• Raw material extraction and synthesis

  
  

• Energy used in manufacturing and quality control

  
  

• Cold-chain distribution (refrigerated shipping and storage)

  
  

• Packaging and disposal

  
  

• Facility operations, including water and electricity use

  
  

Wegovy, which uses the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide, is delivered via a pre-filled injectable pen that requires refrigeration. That already puts it at a higher baseline footprint compared to some oral medications. The materials used in auto-injectors, combined with single-use packaging, also increase its environmental load.

Wegovy vs. Other Weight Loss Medications: How It Stacks Up

While direct comparisons are limited (since not all manufacturers release lifecycle assessment data), researchers and third-party evaluators have drawn some broad conclusions about Wegovy’s relative impact.

Wegovy’s carbon intensity is higher than most oral medications in the same category, simply due to its injection format and the logistics involved in shipping and storing temperature-sensitive products. Every dose requires careful handling, which means more packaging, more energy, and more waste.

Compared to other injectable GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient), Wegovy’s carbon profile is roughly similar. The manufacturing process for semaglutide itself—while energy-intensive—is largely consistent across products. However, differences in pen design, packaging materials, and distribution models can shift the numbers slightly.

By contrast, older oral weight loss medications like orlistat or phentermine have a lower per-dose carbon impact, though they also differ widely in clinical effectiveness and duration of use.

Bottom line: Wegovy is part of a resource-heavy class of modern therapies, and while it’s not alone in its impact, its rise in usage brings fresh urgency to the conversation about pharmaceutical emissions.

What Experts Are Saying About Reducing the Load

Environmental scientists and sustainability consultants have been urging pharmaceutical companies to treat carbon output as seriously as they treat safety and efficacy.

“Medications like Wegovy serve a valuable purpose, but they come with a cost,” says Dr. Helen Prior, who studies sustainability in biopharma manufacturing. “We’re at the point where reducing that cost—carbon-wise—should be considered essential, not optional.”

Best practices for lowering pharma emissions include:

• Transitioning to renewable energy across production sites

  
  

• Reducing waste in packaging by shifting to recyclable or minimal designs

  
  

• Localising supply chains to cut down on long-distance shipping

  
  

• Improving refrigeration efficiency in both transit and storage

  
  

Some companies have also explored carbon offsetting, though experts caution that offsets aren’t a substitute for actual reduction. “Offsets can’t fix a fundamentally inefficient system,” says Dr. Prior. “They should only be used to close a narrow final gap—not to excuse status quo operations.”

What Novo Nordisk Is Doing—and What’s Still Ahead

Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, has launched several initiatives aimed at reducing its overall environmental footprint. These include:

• 100% renewable electricity at all production sites

  
  

• Waste reduction systems, with a reported 90%+ diversion from landfills

  
  

• Green logistics pilots, including lighter packaging and better freight planning

  
  

The company has also committed to net-zero emissions by 2045, and recently began working with suppliers to track and lower scope 3 emissions—those generated outside their own facilities, like from transportation and raw material production.

While these efforts are meaningful, transparency is still a challenge. There’s limited public data on Wegovy’s specific carbon footprint, and it’s unclear how current reduction strategies directly affect this particular product line.

Still, examples from within the industry show that progress is possible. One biotech firm in Europe recently cut its injectable pen packaging emissions by 40% by redesigning its format with recyclable materials and lower-energy assembly. Others are investing in plant-based plastics and solvent-free synthesis to bring emissions down at the source.

The takeaway? Big changes take time, but focused, product-specific action can move the needle faster than broad corporate pledges alone.

What You Can Do—And Why It Matters

If you care about the carbon footprint of your medications, you’re not alone. More people are asking tough questions—not just about effectiveness, but about environmental cost. And that’s a good thing.

We’re here to help you understand what’s behind the treatments you're considering—and how to make informed choices that line up with your values and your health goals.

Need help understanding the impact behind your treatment options?

 We can walk you through what sustainability looks like in practice—from production to packaging—so you can make a decision that feels right, environmentally and personally.