Driving environmental sustainability solutions for people and planet

Through our MORE GREEN environmental sustainability program, a variety of projects are continuing to mature and further reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizing the power of collaboration, innovation and setting tangible goals to drive solutions forward. Since 2010, the global MORE GREEN team has made significant strides in moving the needle forward and have now achieved the following milestones:

•    We reduced our total greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent and have now certified five sites worldwide as carbon neutral in their operations, with Gainesville (USA) and Zhangjian (China), joining Dortmund and Katharinenhof (both in Germany) and Sant Cugat (Spain).
•    We reduced our waste going to landfills by 41 percent or 4,783 tons, with a recycling/reuse rate of 54 percent.
•    Boehringer Ingelheim Shanghai Pharmaceuticals (BISPL) is the first pharmaceutical company in Mainland China to achieve carbon neutrality (Scope 1 and 2*) and also the first pharmaceutical company to achieve a “Zero Waste to Landfill” certification.

Local successes contributing to a global impact

In Gainesville, Georgia and Zhangjiang the Boehringer Ingelheim sites were certified as carbon neutral in their company operations by TÜV Rheinland, the German technical inspection association. Gainesville is a poultry vaccination site, where vaccine manufacturing requires substantial energy and subsequently creates a large amount of carbon emissions. However, with new innovations and a strong will to change, things have drastically and optimally turned around. “This was not an overnight process. We had consultants who said we could be carbon neutral in a shorter period of time, by purchasing more carbon credits,” explains Environmental Health Safety Manager Randy Sheppard. “We did not want to ‘greenwash’ our achievement. We wanted to demonstrate the sincere effort by the site to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And that took four years to complete.” And they achieved their ambition through tangible measures, such as installing a rooftop solar canopy and energy efficient climate control.

Similar to Gainesville, the Human Pharma Supply Chain plant in Zhangjiang also received their carbon neutrality certification by TÜV Rheinland – the first and only such certification for a pharmaceutical site in Mainland China. Now running on 100 percent renewable electricity, the site increased energy efficiency through optimizing Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Especially during sunnier periods, the plant can now cover much of its energy consumption on-site through solar power stations, which have already produced 630,000 kW of electricity since the installation in 2020. “Boehringer Ingelheim is the first company in the pharmaceutical industry in China to achieve carbon neutrality (Scope 1 and 2*)” says Xuelin Yin, General Manager of Boehringer Ingelheim Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. in Zhangjiang. It was also one of only two multinational pharmaceutical companies to be included in the Shanghai Ministry of Ecology & Environment’s Top 100 best practice list earlier this year, as well as being the recent recipient of the 2022 Sustainable Business Award by the European Chamber of Commerce in China.

Understandably, Xuelin is proud of the achievements that the team recently celebrated: they led a successful shift to carbon neutrality at their work site, a significant reduction of its carbon footprint and its recognition as a top performer in environmental sustainability – something they hope will start a positive domino effect throughout the value chain. Ingo Weiss, Head of the global MORE GREEN environmental sustainability program comments, “These impressive accomplishments underline Boehringer Ingelheim’s commitment to climate change and also serve as an internal best practice to inspire what can be achieved through a team effort.” Sharing these experiences and learnings will help optimize the roadmap for other Boehringer Ingelheim sites to follow on their respective journeys towards achieving carbon neutrality. In particular, because one key learning is how infrastructural, economic and social aspects can have varying
degrees of impact on how carbon neutrality projects are designed
and implemented.

What’s next? 

This is particularly relevant for one of our next milestones towards achieving carbon neutrality, which is our regional operating unit in South America. It is a region that is particularly sensitive to environmental impact and in which economic and environmental interests sometimes create particular conflicts of interest. For example, inexpensive energy, water and garbage disposal creates a predisposition to waste rather than recycle, and inadequate infrastructure creates challenges to sustaining green initiatives over time, such as implementing the wider use of electric vehicles or using renewable energy  in buildings. Therefore, creating more awareness on environmental sustainability and identifying locally specific opportunities to reduce the environmental footprint is key. As Lucas Valentino, Head of Environment, Health & Safety for South America explains: “Initially, we focus on topics such as the elimination of single-use plastic, waste reduction, and awareness for energy efficiency. These are simple measures accessible to everyone. Once you get people thinking about the environment during their daily routines, that will help impact the way we think, do business, and lay the groundwork for our people to become environmental ambassadors. With a better understanding for the need for environmental sustainability, we can then drive infrastructural investments, such as transitioning to green energy sources”. Stay tuned to hear more on the progress of their journey. 

Upholding Boehringer Ingelheim’s environmental responsibility is an integral part of our aim to enable better health that transforms lives for generations. Which is why in 2021, we renewed our strategic sustainable development approach and committed to achieving carbon neutrality in all company operations (Scope 1 and 2*) by 2030. Read more about our environmental sustainability efforts here.

*Scope 1 covers all direct emissions on company sites, Scope 2 adds all emissions from energy purchases.