This article was first published for World Environment, on 3 June 2022.
The article was updated on 9 August 2023, to reflect data as published in our 2022 annual report.
At Fagron, we focus on the following three environmental topics:
- Climate change & (renewable) energy use
- Air & soil pollution
- Waste management
We find it important to set feasible goals and targets when it comes to environmental topics. Below, we discuss our approach towards waste management.
How we started
We carefully package our products in line with the legislation for pharmaceutical and dermatological products. Both packaging waste and pharmaceutical waste from our production process may have an environmental impact if not handled properly. Additionally, raw materials may go to waste in case garbage is not being recycled.
We want to reduce our environmental footprint by optimizing waste management at all our facilities. We comply with local legislation regarding waste management and strive to minimize our environmental impact by improving the waste processing at our locations.
In 2021, we identified the different types of waste generated at our locations, and packaging waste came out as the largest waste flow at our facilities.
Our targets and results
As the greatest reduction in environmental impact can be achieved through better separating our waste streams, we have the ambition to separate and recycle all packaging waste and other paper and cardboard at all our facilities by the end of 2025.
At the beginning of 2022, we set the ambition to ensure that all types of packaging waste at our facilities will be separated and recycled by the end of 2025. The packaging waste streams we focus on are:
- Paper and cardboard, including packaging
- Metal packaging
- Plastic packaging
At year-end 2022, paper and cardboard were separated at more than 70% of our sites, plastic packaging at about 50%, and metal packaging at more than 1/3rd of our sites!
Next steps
We have created a plan to make sure that all locations separate packaging waste by the end of 2025. In addition, we will assess if we can integrate waste management contracts for multiple facilities. This will be both cost and time effective and is ultimately better for the environment!
Of course, we will not stop there. We also strive to minimize the amount of hazardous and residual waste generated at our facilities and want to contribute to the reduction of packaging used and shift from fossil-based plastic to sustainable alternatives.
Follow our ESG journey
We are working non-stop to realize our targets and want to be transparent about our results and activities. Annual progress can be followed in our most recent annual report. We also report on progress during the year in the news segment on our website and on LinkedIn.
If you have any questions or suggestions on what we could do to improve, you can reach us at ESG@fagron.com.
