Sustainability Report. Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Inc New Holland Pike Lancaster, PA Phone: (717)

Transcription

1 2013 Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Inc New Holland Pike Lancaster, PA Phone: (717)

2 CEO Message Timothy Oostdyk - President Throughout our 52 year history, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Inc. (ELLI) has always been committed to quality, high ethical standards and operating in a socially responsible manner. As part of our continual desire to improve our business operations, I am happy to report that we have implemented a more formal sustainability program. Our first annual sustainability report will highlight just a few accomplishments from the past year. I believe that incorporating a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach to the way we run our business is critical to our continued long term success. People, Planet, and Profit are the key factors when adopting a TBL approach. Our people are the pillars of our business. Responsible environmental policies and stewardship of our planet are essential to long-term growth. And of course profitability is the key to the success of any business. By effectively focusing on all three of these components, we achieve sustainability. Sustainability is not only becoming a driving force among market shareholders but also is critical for recruiting and retaining employees. Many of our employees view community involvement opportunities and green initiatives as an integral part of their employment at ELLI. I have therefore committed to promoting this initiative with our leadership team so that we can all effectively support and bring new energy to creating an effective and long term sustainability program. All of us at ELLI look forward to working with our clients and shareholders to continue to achieve success. We are committed to doing so in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, which is why this initiative will be an important part of the culture at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories moving forward Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 2

3 Sustainability Officer Message Chrissy Leslie Manager, Pharmaceutical Product Testing Sustainability Officer In 2009, a small group of environmentally conscious employees got together to form a Green Team at ELLI. We established a mission statement which stated that we would work together to reduce consumption, encourage recycling, promote conservation and educate the workforce for the goals of improving efficiency, reducing costs and minimizing the environmental impact of our operations. This grass roots effort has blossomed over the past four years and led us to realize that we needed to implement a more formal sustainability program. In 2013, we included a Corporate Social Responsibility page on our company website and set a goal to publish a sustainability report in We identified key stakeholders within the organization and worked to pull data together for our first report. The process has been enlightening and rewarding. I know we still have a lot to learn but I am confident that based on the data we have in our first report, we can easily identify some areas for efficiency gains and improvement. I am proud to serve as the Sustainability Officer for ELLI and I look forward to expanding our program and increasing our knowledge in this area. If a sustainability program is successful, it will result in happier and healthier employees, conservation and/or more efficient use of resources, and a greater benefit to our local community. This in turn will increase profitability. The key is realizing that everything is connected so when a business operates in a socially responsible manner, the outcome can only be positive Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 3

4 Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories wins Recycling Award Facilities Manager Sam Huber (center left) and Sustainability Officer Chrissy Leslie (center right) accept the company s Recycling Award from members of the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania. The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP) has recognized Pennsylvania s most outstanding recycling programs and projects, awarding Eurofins Lancaster Labs a 2013 Pennsylvania Waste Watcher Award in recognition of outstanding practices in the recycling field. In addition to recycling glass, aluminum and plastic, the Lancaster, PA site actively recycles cardboard, office paper, Styrofoam, various metals (copper, brass, iron, steel, stainless steel), and wooden pallets. The lab also has collection bins available in order to collect and recycle batteries, glossy paper/magazines/catalogs and eye glasses. We continually encourage all of our 800+ on-site employees to bring in any of these items from home if their specific municipalities do not offer recycling of these materials. The Pennsylvania Waste Watchers program recognizes recycling, waste reduction, reuse, and composting programs in Pennsylvania that have exhibited exemplary performance. In 2013, over 70 municipalities, counties, private businesses, individuals, and community organizations from throughout Pennsylvania are being recognized for going above and beyond what is mandated under Act 101 for their communities or programs. Act 101 the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act has helped generate significant economic and environmental benefits for over 20 years. Recycling has become a billion dollar industry in Pennsylvania and with each passing year, there is a steady increase in the amount of collected recyclables and the number of jobs created by the industry. Recycling has saved precious resources and energy, limited greenhouse emissions as well as other air and water pollutants. This growth and success is the result of a serious commitment to recycling by individuals, businesses, government and recycling and organics industry personnel like these award winners Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 4

5 ELLI Garden Club The Eurofins Lancaster Labs Garden Club was formed in the summer of 2010 with the intent of turning a long unused space into a productive space. The primary goal of the group is to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers using sustainable, organic methods and to share the harvest with lab employees. This program has developed into a sort of ESA (Employee Supported Agriculture) similar to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). During the growing season, crops and fresh flowers are collected and placed on a table in the cafeteria. All employees are welcome to share in the daily harvest. The fresh flowers are placed throughout the facility and many people enjoy taking some to brighten up their office spaces. Donations for the crops and flowers are welcome but not required. Any money collected is used towards maintaining the garden and purchasing seeds. In 2013, 885 lbs of produce was collected from our garden plot! We feel this is a unique program which offers our employees outdoor space where they can learn about ecology, enjoy time outside and also share in the harvest of organically grown crops Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 5

6 Efforts to Reduce Methylene Chloride Emissions Over the last few years, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Environmental, LLC has taken several steps to be more environmentally conscious. The first step was to switch the soil extraction method from EPA method 3550 (sonication) to EPA method 3546 (accelerated microwave extraction). The microwave method uses ten times less solvent than the sonication method. In 2013, the group combined their full scan and SIM extraction for EPA method Before the change, samples were extracted twice to perform these analyses. Now samples are prepared once and the extract is split. This process uses half the solvent (mainly methylene chloride) and reduces other usage such as water, electricity etc. Last year, the required sample volume for water extractions for several methods was also reduced. One liter of water has been the standard for many years but recently this has been reduced to 250 ml or even 40 ml for some methods. The reduced sample volume means samplers can collect less water which saves time. It also allows the company to ship more samples in fewer coolers which saves energy in transportation. Since there is less sample to extract, smaller pieces of glassware can be used in order to complete more work in less space and use a fraction of the solvent. The group has done this without increasing detection limits so our clients still get the same level of sensitivity. As seen in the data, we have been able to successfully reduce methylene chloride emissions for two consecutive years Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 6

7 Ventilation Controls Laboratory buildings are notoriously inefficient by nature since Health and Safety requirements historically create high energy demand. At Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories we believe that modern technology can allow us to meet the strictest health and safety standards in a sustainable manner. A pilot project involving the installation of ten high performance fume hoods was initiated in These hoods can safely operate at velocities below 80 fpm and are equipped with automatic sash repositioners connected to Variable Air Volume controls. We believe this design will use 87% less energy than traditional bypass hoods operated at 100 fpm! If the pilot project lives up to energy efficiency expectations and all hoods pass "in use" tracer gas tests at lower face velocities, we intend to consider replacing all existing fume hoods. Additionally, we are replacing Class II B2 Biosafety cabinets used for particulate containment in our chemistry operations with ventilated balance enclosures. Each Class II B2 Biosafety cabinet exhausts 1200 cfm while balance enclosures exhaust approximately 250 cfm. The enclosures make working with analytical balances much easier and improve our ability to contain particles and vapors. These changes reflect our ongoing commitment to the safety of our staff while seeking means to reduce our carbon footprint Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 7

8 Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Sustainability Data Employee Health and Safety Units Employee Hours Worked number 1,793,793 1,998,200 2,381,314 2,671,089 Recordable Incident Cases number *Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) rate Lost Workday Cases number Incident Rate of Lost Workday Cases rate Lost Workdays number **Experience Modification Rate (EMR) rate Fatalities number Compliance Fines Paid: OSHA U.S. dollars EPA U.S. dollars DOT U.S. dollars Fleet Accidents: Miles on Fleet number 565, , , ,677 Accidents number ***Tobacco Use (Employee Smokers) (% employees), number NA NA (9%) 76 (9%) 82 Employees number NOTES: *TRIR is a count of recordable cases **EMR= actual loss divided by expected loss ***Tobacco Use data not collected before 2012 Environmental Data Units Environmental Fines Paid: EPA U.S. dollars *Water Usage gallons per year 16,800,000 17,486,000 17,377,000 12,064,435 gallons per square foot *Natural Gas Usage CCF (cubic feet) per year 379, , , ,080 CCF per square foot *Electric Usage kwh (kilowatt hours) yearly 14,301,600 14,042,400 14,006,400 15,367,200 kwh per square foot **Paper Usage: # of pages printed/copied NA N/A 16,992,610 13,245,081 Waste Disposal: tons per year Waste to Incinerator tons per year Energy Generated by Incinerator Waste kwh (kilowatt hours) 182, , , ,460 ***Recycling Info: Cardboard, Paper, Metals, Pallets tons per year *Sewage / Wastewater Output gallons per year 10,263,000 11,189,000 12,819,000 9,919,000 gallons per square foot On-Site Solar Capacity megawatts per year NA NA NA NA *CO 2 Emissions tons per year tons per square foot CO 2 Fleet Emissions tons per year NA NA tons per vehicle (15 vehicles) NA NA Nitrous Oxide Emissions tons per year Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 8

9 Environmental Data Units Volatile Organic Compound Emissions tons per year ****Methylene Chloride Emissions purchased pounds 112, ,873 80,520 80,146 pounds emitted 68,028 82,070 64,300 58,536 NOTES: *Facility Size ( ) = 237,986 square feet **Data not collected prior to 2012, 22% decrease in 2013 *** PA Waste Watchers Award 2013 ****There are initiatives underway to reduce our Methylene Chloride use which would cut emissions and waste ****See "Source Reduction Strategy for Hazardous Waste" Lancaster Laboratories, Inc Supplier and Diversity Units Supplier Sustainability % of top 50 suppliers NA NA Women On Board of Directors number Total Workforce number Women In Workforce number Total Management Positions number Women In Management number Operations and Statistical Data Units Employees number Ethics Training % of employees Community Involvement: Volunteer number of projects *Community Involvement: Volunteer number of hours **Donations (CLOTHING/SHOES) net pounds NA ***Garden (produce harvested) net pounds NA NA NA 885 NOTES: *Volunteer hours were not formally tracked for all projects in **Planet Aid (facility donation box) ***Garden data not collected prior to Highlights: 30.5% decrease in gallons of water used per year from % decrease in number of pages printed/copied from % increase in supplier sustainability Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 9

10 2014 Goals/Incentives Increase participation in community projects/volunteer hours by 25%. Facilities will be implementing an energy management program which provides real-time energy consumption information. This data will allow ELLI to predict energy use against weather conditions and more actively manage the consumption of energy to maintain the building conditions. Continue to reduce water consumption through the installation of low-flow aerators in the oldest building on site. Report additional data related to materials recycled. Continue to reduce paper usage through implementation of electronic notebooks. Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories Inc New Holland Pike Lancaster, PA Phone: (717) Sustainability Report Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories 10