Eco-Efficiency / Raw Materials Use
Efficient raw materials use has environmental and economic benefits. Baxter tracks the raw materials it uses in manufacturing, such as plastic resins, corrugated materials and chemicals.
While the table below shows a 16 percent overall increase in raw materials usage from 2005 to 2008, company production and revenues also increased substantially during that time – revenues by more than 25 percent. Baxter is continually improving the systems it uses to track this information on a global basis. The data below represent materials purchased from major raw materials suppliers, which equal approximately 80 percent of Baxter's global spending in this area.
As the cost of many raw materials continues to rise, Baxter is implementing more aggressive material-efficiency and waste-reduction efforts. Historically, the company has focused on scrap reuse through its Value Improvement Program. This program encourages manufacturing facilities to identify and implement cost-savings projects, often related to enhancing production efficiencies. For example, to save money on raw materials, many plastic processing sites regrind and reuse pre-consumer plastic scrap.
Plastics use at Baxter continued to rise substantially in 2008 with increases in production. The high cost of plastics provides Baxter an incentive to use it as efficiently as possible. If plastic cannot be reused on-site, Baxter evaluates it for possible reuse at other locations. If that is not feasible, the company sends it off-site for recycling.
While many Baxter container systems incorporate as much as 35 percent reground plastic from the manufacturing process, regulatory requirements prohibit Baxter from using post-consumer plastics in manufacturing. Some of the leading reusers of plastic at Baxter are its facilities in Waluj, India; Cuernavaca, Mexico; Aibonito, Puerto Rico; Mountain Home, Arkansas, and Marion, North Carolina, in the United States.
| MAJOR MATERIALS USED IN MANUFACTURING (METRIC TONS) | ||||
| Material | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| Amino Acids | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Corrugated Materials | 42,900 | 47,600 | 47,400 | 47,500 |
| Dextrose | 17,900 | 17,900 | 18,500 | 19,300 |
| Pharmaceutical (drugs) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Plastic/Resins | 67,400 | 68,800 | 76,600 | 84,600 |
| Sodium Chloride | 13,100 | 12,600 | 12,500 | 12,600 |
| Total | 142,400 | 148,000 | 156,100 | 165,100 |
Corrugated materials use remained flat in 2008 despite increased production, due to improved efficiency in packaging. For example, in 2008 Baxter reduced the packaging size for the majority of U.S. Renal solution cartons, decreasing the storage space required by customers in their homes by 30 percent. Due to this initiative, Baxter realized a corrugated materials reduction of 360 metric tons in the second half of 2008 and is positioned to realize a decrease of 800 metric tons in 2009. The vast majority of the corrugated material Baxter uses contains a range of 30-75 percent post-industrial and/or post-consumer recycled content. While many company facilities implement packaging reduction projects, Baxter is deploying a system to better track and quantify these efforts companywide.
