The environment

Managing our environmental impact continues to be a priority for AstraZeneca. It’s an important part of our overall commitment to responsible business and it also makes good business sense.

For example, our work to reduce our carbon footprint and our use of natural resources brings benefit for the environment and for our business because of the associated cost efficiencies. Similarly, our efforts to minimise the waste we produce includes making improvements to our production processes which can also boost manufacturing efficiency. Our research into the long-term effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment and our work to improve the environmental profile of our medicines means we are helping to safeguard the environment for future generations but we are also protecting our business against potential long-term financial and reputational risk.

Our SHE strategy and associated objectives and targets for 2011-2015, which are aligned with our business objectives and provide the framework for driving our environmental sustainability going forward.

Environmental sustainability

Our objective is to minimise the environmental impact of our operations and activity by reducing the carbon footprint and natural resource demands of our own and our suppliers’ business activities. This includes leveraging programmes like LEAN and responsible procurement to improve our efficiency and sustainability. Our efforts will be proportionate to our environmental footprint.

Our targets are:

• Greenhouse gas: 20% reduction in greenhouse gas footprint. Read more
• Waste: 15% waste reduction (hazardous and non-hazardous). Read more
• Water: Reduce water usage by 25%. Read more
• Supply chain: Understand the related footprint and prioritise reduction targets. Read more

Product environmental improvement

Our objective is to continue to improve the environmental profile of our products through further integration of environmental considerations into a medicine’s full lifecycle – from discovery and development, through manufacturing, marketing, use and ultimately disposal.

Our targets:

• Supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients: Safe discharges of APIs and specific material efficiency targets for R&D projects. Read more
• Packaging: 15% improvement in material efficiency. Read more
• Unused medicines: Encourage local initiatives and promote safe disposal by patients. Read more
• Data transparency: All environmental data publicly available. Read more

Note: Our packaging target has been changed from 20% to 15% improvement in material efficiency as we recognise the complexities of achieving such an ambitious target.