Unrecognizable pharmaceutical logistician using internet of things solution based on blockchain technology to secure data integrity of drug supply chain. Networking concept for distributed ledgers.Amgen Inc. is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Thousand Oaks, Calif. It is one of the world’s largest drug enterprises, and it was established in 1980. It has 24,000 employees and $26 billion in revenues. It operates in 100 countries. Beyond healing people, the company aims to minimize its environmental impact and preserve natural resources for generations through an Amgen waste reduction program, carbon reduction, and more.
Amgen is a signatory to the U.N. Global Compact. Its goal is carbon neutrality by 2027 -- a path it set out on in in 2008. It has been named to Newsweek magazine’s “Most Responsible Companies” for three years and Barron’s “most sustainable” companies for two years straight.
“We also announced plans for new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Ohio that will utilize cutting-edge technologies to be much more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional plants,” says Robert Bradway, chief executive officer of Amgen, in the company’s sustainability paper. “Finally, renewable energy sources provided 79% of Amgen’s total electricity consumption in 2021, up from 41% in 2020. In February 2022, Amgen issued its first-ever 'green bond,' raising $750 million to support our 2027 environmental sustainability aspirations."
Its investment in environmental sustainability makes good business sense too. The company is more efficient, productive, and resilient. That has resulted in lower operating costs, it says.
Its “Road to Net Zero” targets carbon emissions, water conservation, and waste reduction. The plan not only includes carbon neutrality by 2027, but it also involves reducing water use by 40% and waste disposal by 75%.
“Our approach to reducing Amgen’s environmental footprint focuses on driving innovation across our business operations, increasing the efficiency of existing processes, and integrating purchased or on-site renewable energy,” the company says. “We will implement sustainable practices in research, process development, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, sourcing, and products and packaging.”
To that end, Amgen measures and reports its carbon emissions, energy, water use, and waste disposal. It includes data gathered from 16 manufacturing, R&D, and distribution facilities in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe, representing about 88% of its operations — based on square footage. It has its data audited.
— Carbon emissions from onsite combustion of fuel and purchased energy decreased by 88,000 metric tons compared to 2020. That is a 36% reduction, achieved most by using more renewable energy.
— Water usage fell by 117,000 cubic meters in 2021 compared to 2020. That is the result of water reclamation projects, irrigation control enhancements, and completion of equipment commissioning. “Since 2007, we have avoided the usage of 1 million CM annually through the implementation of water innovation and efficiency projects.”
— Waste disposed of decreased in 2021 fell primarily because of waste diversion at its plant in Rhode Island, which reroutes 80% of landfill waste to the waste-to-energy facility.
At a manufacturing site in Singapore, it has reduced carbon emissions by 69% and water use by 54%. This year, it received FDA approval for a new site in Rhode Island modeled after its Singapore campus. That’s on top of earlier plans to construct facilities in Ohio and North Carolina. When designing its projects, the company includes environmental costs -- costs that it says pay for themselves through efficiency improvements.
Specifically, the site in North Carolina will use traditional drug substance technologies and resource conservation. But the so-called FleXBatch plant focuses on sustainable biomanufacturing, which the company is innovative, efficient, safe, and environmentally superior. Ohio's new advanced assembly and packaging plant will comply with LEED27 standards to maximize energy efficiency and waste reduction.
Furthermore, it plans to convert 30% of its sales fleet to electric vehicles by 2027. In 2021, it launched an EV pilot program in this country and the Netherlands and South Korea. Meanwhile, each Amgen facility has a portfolio of renewable energy projects that range from installing solar panels to buying renewable energy on the open market. The company’s goal is for all of its facilities to run on green energy, which it says will include buying renewable energy credits. Those credits guarantee that wind and solar get built, although the electricity may not flow to Amgen's campuses.
In 2021, renewable electricity made up 79% of its total electricity consumption, compared to 41% in 2020. It purchases renewable energy certificates to achieve these goals.
In 2021, it examined ways to use water more efficiently. It concluded that it would focus on water treatment, recycling, and reducing primary usage. The goal is to cut it by 40% by 2027, and it has identified 90 potential projects.
Amgen waste reduction plans include a goal to reduce waste disposal by recycling and reusing waste materials. In 2021, three of its sites sent no trash to landfills. “While our strategy prioritizes innovation and efficiency to reduce waste before it’s generated, for 2021 Amgen Rhode Island transferred the majority of the landfill waste it did generate to a neighboring state for energy recovery,” says Jim Rawley, Environmental Health & Safety Manager at Amgen Rhode Island. “Waste-to-energy incineration is a better alternative to landfills for waste disposal and actually reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.”
