Management Report
9.3 Environment, Climate Protection and Safety
Bayer traditionally places great importance on protecting the environment and using natural resources responsibly. We use our expertise and experience both to optimize technologies and processes and to develop innovative products that help protect the environment, nature and the climate. We develop new solutions to optimize the use of resources, reduce emissions and avoid waste. Bayer has designed a method – the resource efficiency check – to analyze the total use of resources such as energy, water and raw materials and determine ways to minimize consumption. This check is currently being piloted in the MaterialScience and CropScience subgroups.
| Key Performance Indicators | [Table 3.38] |
|---|
Category
| Key Performance Indicators for Health, Safety and Environment | 2009
| 2010
|
Health and
Safety
| Industrial injuries to Bayer employees resulting in at least one day’s absence (number of injuries per million hours worked) |
2.0 |
1.7 |
| Reportable industrial injuries to Bayer employees (number of injuries per million hours worked) |
3.1 |
3.1 |
| Environmental incidents | 13 | 7 |
| Transportation incidents | 10 | 8 |
| Emissions | Direct greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents in million metric tons)* | 4.57 | 4.80 |
| Indirect greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents in million metric tons)* | 3.53 | 3.70 |
| Volatile organic compounds (VOC) (thousand metric tons/year) | 2.59 | 2.54 |
| Total phosphorus in waste water (thousand metric tons/year) | 0.74 | 0.09 |
| Total nitrogen in waste water (thousand metric tons/year) | 0.64 | 0.49 |
| Total organic carbon (TOC) (thousand metric tons/year) | 1.35 | 1.42 |
| Waste | Hazardous waste generated (million metric tons/year) | 0.38 | 0.35 |
| Hazardous waste landfilled (million metric tons/year) | 0.09 | 0.06 |
Use of
resources | Water use (million m3/year) | 407 | 474 |
| Energy use (petajoules [1015 joules]/year) | 77.33 | 85.71 |
2009 figures restated
* as per Greenhouse Gas Protocol
|
We regularly review our performance in the areas of health, safety and environment on the basis of key performance indicators – nearly all of which we improved in 2010, despite an approximately 20% increase in manufactured sales volume. Water and energy use increased as a result, along with total organic carbon (TOC) emissions. The industrial injury rate again declined and was well below our target of <2.0.
In 2010 there was also a decline in the number of environmental and transportation incidents. According to our internal voluntary commitment, we report even minor product releases. For substances with a high hazard potential, we report quantities greater than 100 kg. Unfortunately, even our extensive safety precautions and training procedures cannot entirely prevent environmental incidents or traffic accidents from occurring. Any such events are carefully analyzed and evaluated so that adequate steps can be taken to prevent a recurrence.
Bayer’s aim is to achieve an appropriate and uniform standard of HSEQ (health, safety, environmental protection and quality) throughout the Bayer Group and steadily improve it. To meet this goal, the company has established HSEQ management systems in all subgroups and service companies that are based on recognized international standards and are regularly reviewed and updated. In 2010 about 90% of all Bayer production sites had an HSE management system audited by Bayer. More than 60% of our business activity (in relation to production volume and energy input, respectively) takes place at sites that are certified or validated externally according to recognized international standards such as ISO 14001, EMAS or OHSAS 18001. All subgroups and service companies have industry-specific quality management systems in place, such as ISO 9001 or GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). The subgroups have additional systems and standards that address product-specific requirements.
Our highest priorities are the health and safety of everyone who handles our products and the protection of the environment. For us, product stewardship entails a thorough evaluation of health and environmental risks – from product research and development to production – and includes responsible product marketing, use and disposal. Nearly all products manufactured by Bayer are subject to wide-ranging statutory obligations concerning the publication of information, such as those imposed by the European Union chemicals policy “REACH.” We completed the mandatory pre-registration with the chemicals agency ECHA in 2009. In 2010 we submitted within the deadline registration dossiers for 125 of the substances that Bayer manufactures or imports in very large quantities (> 1,000 tons per year) or that are particularly hazardous. For many of these substances, Bayer has formed registration consortia with competitors in order to share data and avert the need for additional animal studies.
Climate protection
The Bayer Climate Program, announced in 2007, which forms a cornerstone of the Bayer Sustainability Program, addresses one of the major global challenges: climate change. We examine the energy efficiency of our processes and offer solutions for protecting the climate and coping with the effects of climate change. In 2010 Bayer was again named the best company in our sector in the global Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, honoring our transparent reporting of the company’s climate strategy and greenhouse gas emissions. The company is also represented in the newly created Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) with an “A” ranking. The CPLI evaluates companies’ specific actions and achievements in protecting the climate and addressing the consequences of climate change.
Improving energy efficiency is a major factor in reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions. More than 140 production facilities and buildings – accounting for about 85% of production-related CO2 emissions – throughout the Bayer Group were examined using the “Bayer Climate Check” analysis tool to determine the potential for reducing energy consumption and therefore CO2 emission. We expect to have a realizable energy reduction potential of up to 10% by 2013. The results of the Climate Check completed in 2010 will be integrated into the STRUCTese™ (Structured Efficiency System for Energy) management system to ensure that this potential is sustainably realized and the efficiency of our production processes steadily increased. It is planned to establish STRUCTese™ at 60 of our most energy-intensive production facilities by the end of 2012 to support the realization of the reduction targets.
Process innovations are a further focus of our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One example is an innovative, climate-friendly chlorine production process developed by Bayer together with its partners: in the future the oxygen depolarized cathode technology using common salt as a resource will make it possible to reduce energy consumption in chlorine production by 30%. In 2011 Bayer plans to bring a plant on stream in Germany that will use this process and have an initial capacity of 20,000 tons per year. In 2010 we also continued with process engineering modifications to further reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
The Bayer Climate Program also adopts other approaches, including measures such as the “Eco-Fleet” program to reduce CO2 emissions caused by company cars, the use of new telecommunications technology to reduce business travel, and the improvement of energy efficiency in the IT environment. The steps taken as part of the Eco-Fleet program already cut CO2 emissions by 15% between 2007 and the end of 2010.
Bayer bases its reporting of greenhouse gas emissions on the international standard of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol. The company aims to hold total emissions to 2007 levels through 2020 despite growth in production. Despite the roughly 20% increase in manufactured sales volume in 2010, mainly at MaterialScience, we were able to limit the increase in direct greenhouse gas emissions to 5%. This was mainly driven by process improvements and energy-saving measures. Energy-related indirect greenhouse gas emissions also rose by 4.8%. The total of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions increased by 4.9%.
To track our target achievement more transparently, we publish detailed information on emission levels in our Sustainable Development Report.
Bayer also provides solutions for climate protection. Energy usage in buildings accounts for some 30% of global CO2 emissions. Climate protection in the construction sector is already achievable with Bayer’s EcoCommercial Building (ECB) Program. With the help of a partner network of suppliers, construction firms, architects and building owners, Bayer and its partners develop customized solutions for energy-optimized commercial and public buildings, including even zero-emissions buildings. Apart from our offerings to customers, we are also implementing the ECB program within the Bayer Group itself. At the end of 2010, for example, we completed another Bayer building as part of the ECB Program, this time at Bayer’s site in Greater Noida, India.