Amgen and the environment

The biotechnology company has set goals for energy conservation, reducing waste and using recycled products.

Wed, Dec 15 2010 at 4:00 PM

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Amgen focuses its environmental efforts on water, energy and recycling.

When it comes to Amgen and the environment, the biotechnology company focuses on conservation of energy and resources, sustainable building design, reducing waste and using recycled products.

“At Amgen we are driven by our aspiration to be the best human therapeutics company,”said Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer in a message posted on the company’s website. “We are also committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and to environmental sustainability.”

The company’s multiyear plan includes targets for reducing water use, curtailing waste, decreasing energy use, improving the fuel-efficiency of its fleet vehicles and diminishing carbon dioxide emissions.

For water, the company set out to conserve 235,000 cubic meters of water by 2012 but Amgen exceeded that target by the end of 2009.

The primary impetus for Amgen being able to reach that goal was a facility in Puerto Rico where more than 70 percent of wastewater ended up being reused.

Even though the company met its goal early, Amgen said it will continue to seek out ways to further conserve water.

Water conservation practices at Amgen facilities include using waterless urinals, installing smart irrigation systems and reusing wastewater in boilers and cooling towers.

For energy and carbon dioxide emissions, Amgen created the Energy Reduction Program.

Through the program, Amgen set targets to conserve 500,000 gigajoules of energy and reduce 75,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2012.

That energy target translates to 12 percent of the company’s overall energy consumption in 2007. The carbon dioxide goal would equal 20 percent of the company’s carbon dioxide emissions in the same year.

As part of its energy efforts, the company has been boosting the fuel-efficiency of its U.S. sales fleet.

In 2007, the average miles-per-gallon rating for its fleet was 19. As of 2009, that number had increased to 21 miles per gallon.

In the area of waste minimization, Amgen sought in 2007 to reduce the amount of routinely generated waste by 700 metric tons within five years.

That amount translated to eight percent of the company’s overall waste generated in 2007.

In addition, the company reports that it hit a recycling rate of 56 percent in 2009, meaning Amgen recycled more than half of its routine non-regulated waste being recycled.

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