GSK- Environmental Sustainability Strategy
In the presentation, it was highlighted that GSK promotes sustainable management, and in its meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In the advent of climate change, sustainable management has become all the more necessary. To do this, GSK will concentrate on 3 main areas: reducing carbon dioxide and other emissions that contribute to climate change; reducing water use; and practicing environmental stewardship, which covers the impacts of our products, the use of materials and the generation of waste.
To reduce its carbon footprint, GSK aims to make its buildings more energy efficient, use more energy produced from renewable sources produced on its own facilities (biomass, wind, solar), switching from air to sea travel, switching from road to rail travel as well as using collaborative information technology (such as video-conferencing) to reduce the need for business trips. In this, GSK aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% in 2015, 25% in 2020, and be completely carbon neutral by 2050.
To reduce the amount of water used, GSK aims to use a variety of measures, such as engaging with suppliers to reduce water usage, improve the efficiency of its currently existing pipes and washing equipment (especially in less-developed plants) and use recycled water, reducing the operational consumption of water by 20% by 2015. It also aims to reduce wastewater production and the subsequent Chemical Oxygen Demand through various projects, such as installing new treatment plants,
For environmental stewardship, GSK aims to increase the mass efficiency of its processes to 2.5% in 2015 and 5% in 2020, have no waste to landfill in 2020, reduce overall waste production by 50% in 2020 and produce 90% of its paper packaging (which is also reduced) through renewable sources by 2020. To do this, GSK has redesigned its various processes, making a simpler network of distribution depots and optimising the supply chain, reducing thep production of excessive APIs, tablets and packaging. (See http://www.gsk.com/responsibility/downloads/GSK-CR-2010-Environmental.pdf)
In this, the Singapore factory at Jurong is playing a key role. As taken from GSK's website at http://www.gsk.com/responsibility/cr-report-2010/environmental-sustainability/environmental-sustainability-strategy/"A comprehensive environmental sustainability strategy is turning our site at Jurong, Singapore, into a ‘factory of the future’. The site’s strategic objectives include achieving tangible benefits from investment in ‘green chemistry’.
Jurong appointed a Director for Operational Excellence and Sustainability in 2009. He leads the site team, working closely with GSK’s Sustainable Manufacturing Centre of Excellence. They are targeting step changes in environmental performance on energy, water, mass efficiency, chemical oxygen demand in wastewater and volatile organic compound releases to air.
The site has already identified major improvements in manufacturing lamivudine, the active ingredient in many HIV combination therapies. A new process will increase mass efficiency, reduce the water used in a solvent recovery operation from 60 to 15 litres per kg of lamivudine, and will cut the chemical oxygen demand in wastewater to less than a third of the previous level."
To reduce its carbon footprint, GSK aims to make its buildings more energy efficient, use more energy produced from renewable sources produced on its own facilities (biomass, wind, solar), switching from air to sea travel, switching from road to rail travel as well as using collaborative information technology (such as video-conferencing) to reduce the need for business trips. In this, GSK aims to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% in 2015, 25% in 2020, and be completely carbon neutral by 2050.
To reduce the amount of water used, GSK aims to use a variety of measures, such as engaging with suppliers to reduce water usage, improve the efficiency of its currently existing pipes and washing equipment (especially in less-developed plants) and use recycled water, reducing the operational consumption of water by 20% by 2015. It also aims to reduce wastewater production and the subsequent Chemical Oxygen Demand through various projects, such as installing new treatment plants,
For environmental stewardship, GSK aims to increase the mass efficiency of its processes to 2.5% in 2015 and 5% in 2020, have no waste to landfill in 2020, reduce overall waste production by 50% in 2020 and produce 90% of its paper packaging (which is also reduced) through renewable sources by 2020. To do this, GSK has redesigned its various processes, making a simpler network of distribution depots and optimising the supply chain, reducing thep production of excessive APIs, tablets and packaging. (See http://www.gsk.com/responsibility/downloads/GSK-CR-2010-Environmental.pdf)
In this, the Singapore factory at Jurong is playing a key role. As taken from GSK's website at http://www.gsk.com/responsibility/cr-report-2010/environmental-sustainability/environmental-sustainability-strategy/"A comprehensive environmental sustainability strategy is turning our site at Jurong, Singapore, into a ‘factory of the future’. The site’s strategic objectives include achieving tangible benefits from investment in ‘green chemistry’.
Jurong appointed a Director for Operational Excellence and Sustainability in 2009. He leads the site team, working closely with GSK’s Sustainable Manufacturing Centre of Excellence. They are targeting step changes in environmental performance on energy, water, mass efficiency, chemical oxygen demand in wastewater and volatile organic compound releases to air.
The site has already identified major improvements in manufacturing lamivudine, the active ingredient in many HIV combination therapies. A new process will increase mass efficiency, reduce the water used in a solvent recovery operation from 60 to 15 litres per kg of lamivudine, and will cut the chemical oxygen demand in wastewater to less than a third of the previous level."