Alkermes & the Environment - 2021 Performance Highlights

Dec 22, 2022 10:00 AM ET

Originally published in Alkermes 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report

At Alkermes, our goal is to conduct our business activities in a manner that:

  • Protects the health and safety of our employees;
  • Minimizes the environmental impacts of our operations and promotes effective stewardship of environmental resources; and
  • Maintains an unwavering focus on product quality and safety.

We are committed to complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations and operating with the highest standards of conduct. As a global business, our environmental activities are structured to meet all relevant local and national regulatory agencies’ requirements in the countries where we operate, including routine EHSS-focused regulatory inspections. We strive to create a culture of environmental sustainability throughout the organization. We work collaboratively across stakeholder groups and business units to identify ways to reduce our environmental impact, mitigate EHSS risk and increase operational efficiencies.

In 2021, we established a new environmental sustainability steering team, which meets regularly to evaluate and implement initiatives designed to reduce our environmental footprint and enhance business sustainability, including:

  • Collection and analysis of relevant data in order to track key performance indicators;
  • Evaluation of the impacts of changes to ESG regulations, including anticipated ESG-related disclosure requirements;
  • Assessment of various ESG reporting frameworks; and
  • Consideration of appropriate short- and long-term initiatives and goals that may help reduce our environmental footprint, including in respect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use, energy use and waste optimization.

2021 Performance Highlights1

In 2021, we continued to focus on reducing the impact of our operations on the environment and protecting the health and safety of our employees, while responding to evolving local and global restrictions and maintaining increased safety measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud to have received external recognition for our employee health, safety and well-being programs, including maintaining the KeepWell Mark™ award first earned by our sites in Ireland in 2020, being named to the Irish Business and Employers Confederation’s listing of Ireland’s Leading in Wellbeing Top 100 Companies 2021 and receiving a Best in Class Nutrition award as part of the 2021 KeepWell Awards. See page 13 for additional information about this recognition.

In addition to employee health, safety and well-being, we strive to create a culture of environmental sustainability throughout the organization. We are proud of the work that was done in 2021 to mitigate our environmental impacts.

Energy Usage

  • Energy usage per floor area (kWhr/m2) in 2021 was 21% lower than our 2015 baseline measurement year, despite a 5% increase compared to 2020.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

  • CO2e per floor area (m2) for combined Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions in 2021 was 7% higher compared to 2020, but 28% lower than our 2015 baseline measurement year.
  • 100% of electricity used in our Athlone, Ireland R&D and manufacturing site was from certified renewable sources, which helped to offset our Scope 2 GHG emissions.

Water Usage

  • Water use per floor space (cubic meters per m2) decreased by 10% in 2021 compared to 2020 and was 54% lower than our 2015 baseline measurement year.

Waste Optimization

  • 63% of total waste generated in 2021 was recycled and 16% was processed in waste-to-energy facilities.
  • 96% of total hazardous waste generated in 2021 was either recycled or processed in waste-to-energy facilities. Health and Safety Incident Rate
  • Lost workday case rate in 2021 was 0.1, compared to the industry benchmark of 0.7.2
  • Recordable incident rate in 2021 was 0.3, compared to the industry benchmark of 1.6.2

Environmental Health, Safety and Security

Alkermes is committed to operating in a manner that protects our employees, our environment and our communities. We implement a variety of EHSS risk management strategies to help ensure compliance with EHSS policies and protocols, proactively reduce EHSS risk and drive awareness of our environmental impacts and priorities. The core goals established by our EHSS function include working to:

  • Preserve and protect the health, safety and well-being of our employees;
  • Meet or exceed applicable environmental, health and safety regulations and statutory obligations for the regions in which we operate;
  • Protect the environment and promote sustainability in our operations; and
  • Secure our infrastructure and support the manufacture and supply of our medicines for patients.

With committed leadership from management and an engaged workforce, our operations are supported by teams of highly qualified and experienced EHSS professionals who provide strategic oversight and governance of EHSS activities and evaluate and establish appropriate EHSS performance goals for our operations.

Our EHSS strategy is integrated across our business, including in our R&D, manufacturing, facilities, external operations, commercial and general and administrative functions. This strategy is supported by numerous EHSS initiatives ranging from our high-level, systemic compliance and risk management frameworks to programs focused on creating a culture of EHSS risk awareness and active workforce engagement.

Read more.

 

1 Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company and its business practices, including lower in-person attendance at our sites, adjustments to facilities to maintain the safety of on-site employees (e.g., increased ventilation rates and cleaning frequency) and changes to business travel, certain 2021 performance indicators may not be representative of future years.

2https://www.bls.gov/web/osh/summ1_00.htm; NAICS number 325412 For additional details on our health and safety metrics, please refer to the graphs on page 12. For additional details on our energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, waste optimization and other environmental metrics, please refer to the graphs on pages 15-18.