Medochemie is taking a leading role in addressing one of the most pressing environmental challenges currently faced by the pharmaceutical industry: the management and reduction of pharmaceutical pollution. With 49 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and a strong commitment to sustainability, Cyprus’ largest pharmaceutical company has launched the operation of an innovative wastewater treatment system as part of the European LIFE Pharma Detox project.
The technology was installed and entered pilot operation in March 2025 at Medochemie’s production facilities. Its primary goal is the degradation and detoxification of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) contained in production wastewater, before they are released into aquatic ecosystems.
LIFE Pharma Detox is a four-year European collaboration coordinated by Medochemie, involving five partners from four EU countries. The project is co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme and brings together industrial know-how with the scientific expertise of leading academic and environmental institutions from Greece, Denmark, and Italy.
The project consortium includes: Medochemie (Cyprus), as coordinating beneficiary, operating 15 manufacturing plants across Cyprus, the Netherlands, and Vietnam, Aarhus University (Denmark), contributing expertise in sustainable technologies, NEVIS – Novel Environmental Solutions S.A. (Greece), with experience in environmental demonstration projects, the National Technical University of Athens (Greece), through its Unit of Environmental Science and Technology and the Università di Catania (Italy), providing chemical engineering knowledge for industrial sustainability.
The system installed by Medochemie is based on a multi-stage technological process. It employs advanced oxidation techniques designed to break down API molecules into non-toxic compounds; a water recycling component that allows the treated water to be reused for non-critical applications such as cooling, cleaning, and irrigation and full energy autonomy through the use of renewable energy sources, primarily solar.
Notably, it incorporates smart energy management features, enabling off-peak consumption and energy storage for night-time operation, thereby reducing load on the power grid and minimising the system’s environmental footprint.
The LIFE Pharma Detox system aims to treat 5,220 grammes of APIs annually, an amount based on data showing that each of Medochemie’s 15 production sites discharges approximately one gram of APIs per day in wastewater. In parallel, the system enables significant water savings, recycling around 10 cubic metres per day, or 3,650 cubic metres per year.
This water is reused in non-critical operations within the facility, helping reduce demand on freshwater resources. Most impressively, if implemented across the European Union’s approximately 4,000 pharmaceutical facilities, this technology could prevent more than 1,600 kilograms of APIs from entering water systems each year.
The LIFE Pharma Detox project is fully aligned with core European environmental strategies, including the Water Framework Directive (WFD), by preventing pharmaceutical pollutants from reaching water bodies, and the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), through the exclusive use of renewable energy sources for wastewater treatment.
In addition, the project places strong emphasis on knowledge transfer and scalability. It includes technical training for facility operators and participation in European scientific forums, ensuring that the technology can be widely shared and adopted. Importantly, the system is designed to be easily implementable and cost-effective, making it accessible for other pharmaceutical producers.
With LIFE Pharma Detox, Medochemie further strengthens its role as a responsible and innovative industrial leader in Cyprus and across Europe. By investing in technologies that address environmental challenges at their source, the company proves in practice that pharmaceutical production can evolve with full respect for the environment, without compromising quality, safety, or efficiency.
The LIFE Pharma Detox project represents yet another step toward a more sustainable future, as Medochemie lays the foundation for a new era in pharmaceutical manufacturing: more responsible, more sustainable and more innovative.