Safety, Health and Environment are at the heart of our business, both through our deliverables to our customers and in our day-to-day operations.
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OUR CUSTOMERS’ PRODUCTIONS
Through the development and implementation of better, more efficient and greener manufacturing processes, we contribute to reducing any negative impact on the environment. Good examples are:
- greater than 99.9% solvent recycling of our large scale Varicol® continuous chromatography processes separating chiral active pharmaceutical ingredients
- replacement of conventional ion-exchange purification processes by chromatographic purification processes which saves regeneration chemicals and corresponding regeneration effluents (no resin regeneration required with chromatographic purification).
- development of green ion-exchange applications with chemical-free regeneration using existing process streams and complete integration into a larger process line. Typical examples: NRS process for beet juice softening, DF/NF/RO patented process for whey and UF permeate demineralization.
- combination of ion-exchange and membrane filtration technologies, for reduction of chemicals usage for regeneration. Typical example: brine recycling for ion-exchange decolorization plants, using nanofiltration membranes.
PROTECTING OUR EMPLOYEES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
In all three business units the Heads of Operations report to the president of the business unit, and supervise empowered safety officers on each site. Our global SHE guidelines are given below:
- Provide our employees with regular and appropriate safety and regulatory training
- Plan and establish measures for accident prevention to minimize the impact on people and the environment
- Invest in and maintain protection systems for people and the environment in case of an incident.
- Inspect facilities regularly and assess risks to minimize the impact of our activities on people and the environment
- Report performance of our SHE program through regular and appropriate indicators
- Establish objectives for continuous improvement
- Audit and control established systems to check their efficiency
- Communicate results to all employees, contractors, customers and local communities & authorities
