Vetter has announced all of its sites are now climate-neutral, no longer leaving a C02 footprint. The company’s production sites and sales offices in Austria, the US, and Asia have followed the example of its sites in Germany, where climate neutrality was achieved in the past year. The milestone was made possible by the interaction of many components within the scope of a long-term CO2 strategy in the company, it says.
The 'Green Deal,' initiated by the European Commission, is aimed at reducing net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero across the EU by 2050. As a globally operating CDMO, it says, Vetter added this topic to its corporate agenda many years ago.
Investments in energy-efficient and eco-friendly technology, including in-house cogeneration units, solar panels, and geothermal energy, play a key role. During the past ten years, the company has implemented more than 100 efficiency projects, saving in excess of 30 million kWh of electricity, natural gas, and biogas, it says. In the past five years, the company reduced its C02 emissions by approximately 4,500 tons. Its buildings are also always constructed according to the latest environmental standards.Another component of the company's sustainability strategy is its energy supply. Since 2014, all its German sites have operated using green electricity from hydropower. The same is true for the company’s recently purchased Austrian site in Rankweil.
The company also relies on a modular concept for alternative mobility, designed to make switching to sustainable means of transportation as appealing as possible to its staff members. It has invested in two bicycle parking facilities at its corporate sites in Ravensburg, with more to follow at the other sites. Moreover, it cooperates with a local energy supplier on leasing bicycles. In this way, staff members can quickly commute between corporate sites while also saving resources. Furthermore, the JobRad program, a national bike leasing initiative, offers staff members attractive leasing conditions when acquiring a bicycle. Employees can also charge their electric vehicles from hydropower; the infrastructure required for this purpose has been provided at the first sites.
“As a family business committed to sustainability, we take our responsibility towards the environment and climate protection very seriously. Whenever possible, we opt for the solutions that are most eco-friendly,” said Vetter MD Thomas Otto.
Henryk Badack, Senior VP Technical Services/Internal Project Management, said: “Operating within the pharmaceutical industry, we have to meet numerous regulatory requirements and high standards to enable patients around the world to have access to impeccable, high-quality medication. This results in energy-intensive production operations. Therefore, it is even more important to sensibly compensate for the emissions generated.” CO2 compensation is one means in this regard, i.e., emissions that cannot be eliminated are compensated for by financing high-quality and certified climate protection actions.
“Despite the milestone of global CO2-neutrality, which we have now achieved, we maintain our efforts in further driving our environmental initiatives and making our company even greener,” said Vetter MD Peter Soelkner. “As a family business that thinks in generations, we see this as an important component of our social responsibility, as well as for our children and grandchildren.”
