Bayer To Reduce Environmental Waste Corporate-Wide

During a national press conference on March 18 to announce his company's financial performance, and to announce progress on two new drugs, Bayer Corp. CEO Helge Wehmeier unveiled an ambitious strategy to reduce Bayer's environmental waste generation by 33 percent by 2001. Wehmeier also set a 33 percent reduction goal with a similar time frame for emissions of compounds tracked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

"Our goal is to continuously reduce all waste throughout the corporation, whether toxic or not," said Wehmeier. "One way to achieve this corporate objective is to continually improve our manufacturing processes and procedures."

Environmental Performance
Between 1992 and 1996, Bayer reduced its overall waste generation rate by 26 percent. In addition to reducing waste by an addition 33 percent between 1997 and 2001, Bayer will reduce its TRI figures by 33 percent. Wehmeier stated that Bayer will continue to aggressively reduce its release of nitrates, which the EPA has recently added to its TRI.

Wehmeier cited Bayer's most recent environmental achievements:

• The company's waste reduction efforts in 1997 resulted in a 16 percent decline in the rate of waste generation compared to 1996.
• From 1992 through 1996, Bayer reduced production waste from 60.5 pounds per thousand pounds of product to 45.0 pounds per thousand - a 26 percent reduction.
• Bayer expended $147 million on its environmental capital improvements and operations in 1997 and has committed a total of $617 million to environmental operations in the past five years.
• When the EPA asked U.S. manufacturers to voluntarily reduce emissions of priority TRI pollutants by 50 percent by 1995, Bayer achieved a 60 percent reduction. Two of the company's largest sites, Baytown, Texas, and Elkhart, Ind., reduced such emissions by more than 90 percent.

Bayer actively participates in the Responsible Care initiative sponsored by the Chemical Manufacturer's Association and has implemented all of the program's six codes of management practice: community awareness and emergency response; pollution prevention; process safety; distribution; employee health and safety; and product stewardship.

For more information contact: Meinolf Sprink, Bayer Corp., 100 Bayer Rd., Building 4, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741. Tel: 412-777-5666.

By Angelo DePalma