Environmental sustainability

In 2015, we finalised a Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Strategy for 2016 to 2025. In setting our new carbon commitments, we followed the Science-Based Target Setting methodology developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

Our commitments for 2025 include:

• Carbon: limit our extended operational footprint to 2015 levels and reduce overall value chain carbon intensity by 30%
• Waste: work towards a 10% absolute reduction against a 2015 baseline
• Water: maintain usage at 2015 levels as our business grows
• Resource efficiency: 90% of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) syntheses to meet resource efficiency targets at launch
• Ensure effective environmental management of our products from pre-launch through to product end-of-life.

For full details of our new commitments, see our Environmental sustainability update 2015.

This year, we reached the end of our 2010–15 carbon commitments. Our aim by 2015 was to reduce our operational greenhouse gas footprint by 20% against 2010 levels. We achieved a 21% carbon reduction against the 2010 baseline (excluding emissions from patients’ use of inhaler therapy products). In 2015, 6% of our total energy consumption was from certified renewable sources, achieving our ambition to increase supply by 50% from the 2010 baseline. Switching from air to sea freight was a major contributor to our carbon footprint reduction. 

We are working to minimise our water use and ensure the water we do use is treated to the highest standards. Our company-wide target for 2015 was to reduce absolute water use by 25% compared with 2010 levels. We have initiated water conservation plans at all our largest sites and especially those that use large quantities of water or are in water-stressed areas. Since 2010, we have reduced our water use by 14%.

Waste prevention is our primary goal. Where prevention is not practical, we concentrate first on minimisation, then on appropriate treatment or disposal to maximise reuse and recycling, and reduce disposal to landfill.

Our aim by 2015 was to reduce our hazardous and non-hazardous waste by 15% from 2010 levels. We have achieved a 22% reduction in hazardous waste and a 14% reduction in non-hazardous waste.

We are committed to managing our impact on biodiversity – both on our own sites and when we use natural biological resources in our product development. We have now assessed potential local biodiversity impacts at 38 of our major sites, 25 of which are implementing bespoke biodiversity action plans (BAPs).

Where we use natural biological resources (such as plant or fish extracts), we acknowledge our responsibilities under the Nagoya Protocol. We are developing a governance structure, toolkit and standards to assist our researchers when using biological resources that fall under the Protocol.

Improving the environmental performance of our product pipeline involves a delicate balance between meeting patient needs and reducing environmental impacts. We aim to lead the industry in understanding and mitigating the effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment (PIE). We are investing significant resources in understanding the fate and effects of our medicines in the environment, so that we can manage risks effectively.