Environmental stewardship

Shire is committed to operating a sustainable organization that protects our employees, the environment and the communities where we conduct our activities. We are committed to demonstrating respect for the individual and the environment. We firmly believe that exceptional environmental management is a key component in achieving excellent company performance and making Shire a world-class organization and responsible corporate citizen.

We strive to conserve resources and minimize or eliminate adverse environmental impacts and risks that may be associated with our products, facilities and operations. We are committed to promoting the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources, and to waste minimization, recycling, energy efficiency, and responsible product stewardship in our business activities. We regard compliance with environmental regulations wherever we operate as a minimum standard, to be exceeded where reasonably practicable.

We also look beyond our walls and we are working with our business partners to support responsible environmental practice and performance among our suppliers, contractors and customers. When selecting key suppliers, we assess their approach to HSE management, and make HSE performance a key factor in our purchasing and contracting arrangements.

We have developed a health, safety and environmental management system for all our manufacturing and distribution facilities, which is compatible with the international standards OHSAS 18001 and the ISO 14001 and continually work to improve this system.

Building on the enthusiasm and support of our employees, Shire has created local site-based environmental committees called SAVE – Shire’s Actions and Value for the Environment.

While Shire is a global company, most of our environmental impacts from our facilities are local and we believe are most effectively addressed locally. We therefore focus on setting local site-specific goals rather than generic global goals to reduce our impacts. At Shire we continuously strive to do the right thing and at each of our facilities our staff constantly work to identify and implement projects to reduce our environmental impacts.

Reflecting on 2012

  • We received a number of Environmental Awards:
  • Air Quality Excellence Award from the Air Quality Partnership of Delaware Valley.
  • Our Chesterbrook campus was ranked 6th in Philadelphia Inquirer Top Workplace program. Contributing factors include the Farm-to-Shire Community Supported  Agriculture  program, and priority parking for eco-friendly vehicles.
  • Environmental Leadership Award from GVF Transportation for our continued efforts in promoting alternative commuting options
  • Business Innovation Award for our HGT facility for Recycling from Mass Recycle
  • Shire secured inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index for another year, scoring top marks for both environment  and environmental management; with our overall rating rising to 92.
  • We improved our carbon reporting score from the Carbon Disclosure Project with a CDP score of 77; an improvement of 5% over 2011. A full report on our carbon emissions can be found at www.CDProject.net

What we said we'd do
What we did

Green Buildings: Continue to incorporate green building standards in new construction projects, and major renovations and ensure existing LEED certified buildings meet operational performance expectations

We  met our commitment and added to our LEED building portfolio

  • Our Lexington, MA B200 building (research and development center) achieved LEED  Gold
  • Our Lexington, MA manufacturing plant (B400) achieved LEED certification
  • The remodel of part of our manufacturing facility in Alewife, MA achieved LEED Gold
  • Our new Nyon facility is Minergie certified

Supplier Environmental Impacts
Our goal for 2012 was to double supplier participation in the Green Supplier Network

The number of suppliers participating in this program increased from 3 to 6.

Waste Management
Our 2012 and beyond goals are:

  • HGT Massachusetts: Increase recycling by 20% over the next 2 years
  • Chesterbrook, PA increase recycling at our 725/735 facility by 50% from 2011 levels over by the end of 2014

 

  • Lexington, MA increased recycling by 64%.  Through our recycling efforts we reduced our environmental impacts by decreasing our landfill needs by 2,935 cubic yards and reduced our carbon footprint by 317 metric tons of carbon equivalent. One of our big wins was initiating a recycling program for our manufacturing filters that led to over 30 tons of material being recycled. This was a joint effort between Shire and two other large corporations, and resulted in an award for MassRecycle for Business Innovation.
  • In Chesterbrook on Earthday we held a special e-waste event for our employees, a day when they could bring in waste electronic equipment for recycling. Through this event we recycled 7,823 pounds of equipment. We held this event in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Resources Council
  • At Chesterbrook we began recycling eye glasses– 62 pairs were collected in 2012 and donated to the Lions Club International Recycle for Sight program.

Resource conservation
Chesterbrook PA : Reduce plastic bottle use by 30%  from 2011 levels

We reduced the use of plastic bottles of water by 7% compared to 2011. One way we achieved this was by running a contest for the administrators challenging them to order pitchers of filtered water instead of plastic bottles for meeting. We had 74 participants in the contest who made the smart choice when planning 433 functions. The winner received a $500 donation to the charity of their choice.

Environmental Impact Reduction:
Our Global Procurement team under took multiple initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint.

  • We reduced  the number of limo journeys by 42% in 2012, thus reducing our carbon footprint.
  • We reduced packaging waste and the number of deliveries associated with HGT R&D Non-clinical lab supplies by changing from individual to case pack delivery. This reduced the number of corrugated shipping cartons used by approximately 1220 units
  • We reduced paper based transactions in Clinical trials from 93,000 to 48,000 - a 48% reduction - by increasing the use of email notifications
  • We switched our Shire Dynamics magazine to an online format and reduced paper useage,
  • We are increasingly using Quick Response (QR) codes on our Congress Posters, In 2011 we had 59 posters with QR codes. In 2012 we had 148 (60% increase). This has resulted in an estimated total CO2 savings to date of 1,345.50 kg

Environmental Volunteering: To celebrate Earthday many of our sites and staff participated in environmental volunteer events

  • Chesterbrook: Volunteers helped out Norristown Zoo removing an old Rhea exhibit to make room for a new picnic area and weeding and mulching near the red fox and hawk exhibit
  • Basingstoke: Volunteers helped erect fences to allow grazing  and promote insect life and rare fauna growth at the Hampshire Wildlife Trust
  • HGT, MA: Volunteers planted leeks, spinach plants and lettuce heads at the Waltham Fields Community Farm
  • Nyon: Employees removed invasive plants and planted new willow cuttings along the river l’Aubonne, with the Maison de la Rivière is a foundation which manages the re-naturalization of aquatic environments

Ongoing Commitments

Reduce our environmental impacts by:

  • Continuing to incorporate green building standards in new construction projects, and major renovations and ensure existing LEED certified buildings meet operational performance expectations.
  • Chesterbrook, PA: Reduce plastic water bottle use by 30% from 2011 amounts by 2015

Related links

SAVE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building on the enthusiasm and support of our employees, Shire has created local site-based environmental committees called S.A.V.E.